


Trying For A New Start

by ClothesBeam



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossdressing, Multi, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Slow Burn, cloud doesn't stay in a coma for long, don't step on his gown, zack survives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:54:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 32
Words: 69,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23611141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClothesBeam/pseuds/ClothesBeam
Summary: There’s nothing simple about going back to a simple life, much to Zack’s dismay.Price of freedom indeed.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Comments: 413
Kudos: 548





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Useless Spoiler Warning: This fic does reference some characters and places from Remake, but as far as the er... deeper plot elements(?) go, it can probably be considered more of a Crisis Core story than anything. I can't say much more than that without spoiling the new game so...
> 
> I have listed this as ‘Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings’ mostly out of caution, because:
> 
> 1\. Weird grey underage area - Cloud has been unconscious since he was 16, so he wouldn’t have matured mentally very much in that time. There won’t be any explicit material in this until the very end, once the character development is all done. But then, looking at how he's treated by people in canon, this won't be worse than that, so...  
> 2\. Weird grey depiction of violence area - Blood and violence is probably going to be described more than what would normally be shown in typical cannon material. But it won’t be frequent or excessive, so I don’t think it’s worth putting that warning on this one either.
> 
> Content Warning: There’s a pretty visceral description of not being able to breathe followed by vomiting early in this chapter.

The only thing he registered in the oppressive darkness was the sensation of weightlessness. Eventually it occurred to him that something was missing, but his thoughts kept drifting away before he could work out what it was.

Something rushed around him in a light, steady stream. It moved around the shape of his face, but lightly tousled his hair with every cycle. The whisper of movement felt dull around his hands, but he could still sense the way it rose between each of his fingers. He remembered something about thick, black gloves and flexed his fingers slightly.

There was still something missing. It was beginning to bother him.

Zack allowed one of his covered feet to float further back, and it quickly came to rest against something solid. He took his time moving his foot down one edge of the object and up the other. Even like this he could recognise the shape of the buster sword.

He inhaled sharply at the realisation. When no air entered his lungs, he finally realised what was wrong. He wasn’t drowning, but he couldn’t breathe either.

Zack felt his heart pound in his throat as he instinctively began to repeatedly try to draw breath. The dulled sound of some kind of alarm vibrated around him, and finally his eyes flew open.

He squinted when his vision was filled with bright, glowing green. Suddenly, he knew exactly where he was.

Zack brought a fist up in an attempt to punch at the glass he knew, from past experience, had to be in front of him. There was a dull thud as his knuckles only just scraped up against it. He pulled himself forward through the rushing liquid. He blinked rapidly as a familiar scene started to become visible before him.

The lab looked somewhat familiar, but he didn’t care to try and remember why that was right now. His entire attention was taken up by the middle-aged man standing to one side of the tank, flipping through a manila folder with a deep frown and wide eyes.

Zack knew that he’d be sedated soon, if the process hadn’t started already. There wasn’t time to think.

He drew his fist back once again, and this time managed to muster enough force in spite of the goop around him to crack the glass. The pressure inside the tank helped him punch out a hole.

Not caring about the possibility of cutting his arm, Zack reached through the hole of the rapidly emptying tank and fumbled for the door handle. Thankfully, this one seemed to be identical to the last tube he’d been stuck in.

The rest of the mako goop rushed out around his feet. Only his instinct to reach back for the buster sword kept him steady.

Zack assessed the situation quickly, even if he stepped out of the tank looking less than steady. Panic gripped his chest again when he saw Cloud was floating in the next tube over, still unconscious. But maybe the tightness had something more to do with the fact he still couldn’t breathe. And now that he was out of the tank it was turning into a problem.

The scientist had backed up against the bench in the middle of the room. He was fumbling for something at his belt, and Zack had to assume he was reaching for some kind of weapon.

He lashed out with his sword, striking to kill. But apparently his vision hadn’t quite managed to line up with reality yet. The sword cut a bloody path up the man’s torso, but the wound was too shallow to be deadly.

Still, now he seemed more interested in curling up to protect himself than trying to stop Zack. He turned his attention to the other tube and crashed the blunt edge of his sword into the bottom pane of glass. Thankfully it was a big enough target that it didn’t matter when the blade landed half a foot to the left of where he’d intended.

Zack winced as heard Cloud’s forehead bonk against the remaining pane of glass as the mako solution leaked out. He shuffled over to the door and yanked it open. He’d intended to catch Cloud as he fell forward, but he slipped through his soaking hands and crashed into the floor head first.

“Shit,” Zack tried to mutter. He fell to his knees and started to choke.

Time was up.

His insides writhed and protested against the mako that was sitting inside him where fluid most certainly shouldn’t be. His entire torso seemed to heave and contract. He had time to point himself away from Cloud’s general vicinity before it all started coming up.

Grateful for his fast healing and resilience, Zack sighed and glanced around at the mess he’d made. It looked like something radioactive had just splattered over the floor and cupboard door in front of him. At least he should recover before he drowned.

“Nasty,” he muttered, but he did feel better. The adrenaline was making him feel warm and energetic now. Much better than the breathless panic he’d been running on for the last few minutes.

Zack turned his attention back to Cloud, hoping he hadn’t done any permanent damage. Only now did he notice that at some point Cloud had reached out to take hold of his forearm in a death grip.

His brain stalled for a moment as he carefully extricated himself. Had Cloud’s dense noggin put that dent in the floor, or had it always been there?

Zack crawled into a better position and removed the glove from his left hand. He felt for a pulse at Cloud’s neck and easily found it, steady and powerful as it was. It was a little slower than he might have expected, but it seemed to be something they could work with.

It had to be.

Zack reached back for the sword and put it on his back, feeling it slot into place almost like an old friend. He rolled Cloud onto his side, tilting his jaw in a way that’d let the mako come out. Whenever it felt like it, that was.

He sat back and looked Cloud over properly, now that his vision had cleared up a bit more. The Shinra infantry uniform looked like it was a few sizes too small. Zack wasn’t sure whether it had shrunk or Cloud had grown. He assumed they’d only been in there for a few weeks at most. Excessive doses of mako could do strange things.

Either way, it looked like Cloud was some sort of Soldier now, in terms of biology if not rank. Something told him this wasn’t quite what he’d been aiming for. But as long as it let him survive coming out of the tank, Zack figured they could deal with the rest later.

Zack listened to his shallow breaths carefully, turning his attention to his heightened senses. He could hear shuddering breaths coming from behind him, but the scientist hadn’t moved since he’d curled up on the floor. But it was the other set of breaths that had been bothering his subconscious.

Zack got to his feet in one swift movement and narrowed his eyes. He prowled over to the doorway, silent despite his heavy boots and wet soles. The breaths remained short and panicky, indicating the person probably wasn’t aware of his approach yet.

The unmistakable click of PHS buttons drove him to action. It sounded exactly the same as his own device, making him assume it was the standard model for Shinra employees. That could only mean someone was sending for help.

Zack stalked up the stairs, hand ready to go for his sword or even to try a spell if the situation called for it. But he reached their hiding place at the top of the stairs before they had a chance to finish typing the message.

He reached over the small bookcase unit next to a writing desk and grabbed the person’s upper arm, pulling another scientist to her feet. She screamed at the sight of him and tried to pull away. Zack groaned at the piercing sound and tried to ignore his enhancements, but he’d never gotten the hang of doing it the other way at will.

“Shut up!” he muttered, clenching his jaw so he wouldn’t tighten his grip too much.

She fell silent, shaking like a leaf as her head tilted forward, mussed up blonde bob falling to cover more of her face. He spotted the PHS in her hand. He reached his free hand forward and gestured for her to hand it over. Only then did he notice the state of his own forearm, all bloodied and streaked in glowing mako. If the rest of him looked the same, it was no wonder she was shaking.

An unsteady hand dropped the device into his and he immediately ditched it at the stone flooring, finding some satisfaction in the way it shattered. The woman jumped slightly, but otherwise remained still and silent.

Zack moved onto his next priority, not having time to feel bad about scaring her. It was hard to feel sorry for someone who’d played some part in keeping them here, anyway.

“Is there anyone else in the mansion?” he rasped. He needed to return to Cloud’s side as soon as possible, but eliminating immediate threats had to come first.

The woman looked up at him with wide, scared eyes. “N-no, Johno and I are the only ones left on assignment here,” she stuttered out.

“Don’t bullshit me,” Zack muttered, shaking her arm slightly. “This place is huge. Don’t try and tell me they only left two people to observe a pair of dangerous experiments.”

She shook her head quickly. “I’m telling the truth, I swear. This is just a maintenance job now. It’s been years…”

Zack frowned and tilted his head, making her trail off into silence. “Years?”

She nodded hesitantly. “Four, or…” she paused, calculating. “Closer to five now, I suppose. They assumed neither of you would wake up again after three, and just started collecting samples.”

Zack’s eyes widened with disbelief. He knew the second part of her explanation should probably worry him, but he was too busy trying to get his head around the first. He dug around in his pocket for his own PHS, glad to find it was right where he’d left it.

But of course it didn’t power on when he tried it. He just hoped it was a flat battery, and not an issue with the supposedly waterproof electronics. He decided to assume she had no reason to lie. She wasn’t trying to use his shocked state to fight him off, at least.

Zack shifted uncomfortably, and eventually sighed. This wouldn’t stay secret for long no matter what he did. It didn’t really matter what he did with the other two.

“You got a first aid kit up here?” he asked as he slowly let go of her.

“There’s one in the lab,” she said quietly as she rubbed her arm. “You didn’t… kill him, did you?”

“I don’t think so,” Zack said, wincing a little at how callous it sounded.

But honestly, he was more concerned about Cloud. He could have stopped breathing in the time he’d been gone, for all he knew.

“C’mon,” he said, tilting his head toward the stairs before trotting back down them.

It’d also probably be a good idea to check whether Johno had a PHS on him before he got complacent. He glanced back when he didn’t hear any footsteps following him down. He shot her a grin, but only got a look of nervous confusion in return.

Yeah, ok. Now was probably a bad time to try and turn on the charm.


	2. Chapter 2

Zack was glad to leave the mess in the lab behind them. Cloud hadn’t spat up as much mako as him, but he still seemed to have a pulse and a functioning airway, so somehow he wasn’t in danger of drowning. Maybe his body was just absorbing the mako faster than Zack’s had.

Cloud was still riding the edge between consciousness and unconsciousness. He looked utterly exhausted, like he’d been sick recently, but his complexion after not seeing the sun for several years was probably contributing to that. Zack just hoped he hadn’t given him concussion on top of everything else.

Zack turned away from the bed he’d left Cloud to sprawl over and put the Soldier uniform he’d found down on the bedside table. He glanced toward the opposite wall, noticing the female scientist was sitting on the other bed while the man slowly settled back against the pillows. He was bandaged up, and a weak cure had been cast on him.

Zack had decided to keep quiet about the fact he had access to more powerful materia and the ability to use it. Of course he felt awful about leaving someone in pain, but he’d feel even more awful if both of them had free reign to go off and find a way to call in reinforcements. He didn’t know if he could deal with waking up in a tube again.

“Do either of you know why he hasn’t woken up properly yet?” Zack asked suddenly, making both of them jump.

The woman glanced at Johno before answering. “His dosage was different to yours. Until more of it leaves his system, he probably won’t.”

“Well, how do I get rid of it?” They needed to get out of here as soon as they could, but there was no use rushing into the field with someone who was barely semi-conscious. He’d need support dealing with whatever Shinra was going to throw at them next, he was sure.

Her eyes flickered to the set of clothes he’d just put down. “Showering him every few hours for the next couple of days would probably help, and so would changing his clothes or bedding regularly. Otherwise, it seems you found an efficient way to get rid of yours.”

Zack grimaced as the reminder brought an echo of the awful taste back, and the even worse feeling of uncontrollable heaving. If Cloud had to go through that too, hopefully it’d be over just as quickly.

He glanced around the large room once again. They’d chosen it for its size, and the fact it came with a bathroom attached. He’d never had to look after anyone like this before, so figuring out how he was going to make a shower work was going to take a bit of time. Then he’d have to make sure the other two didn’t run off either.

Zack turned and walked over to the door. The suddenness of his movement seemed to make the other two jump.

“I’ll be back in a minute, don’t go anywhere,” he said, hoping neither of them tried to call his bluff any time soon. Now that he wasn’t in immediate danger, it’d be hard to find it in himself to be purposefully threatening. “That goes for you too,” he said as he pointed at Cloud, before snapping the door behind him.

Zack paused for a moment and closed his eyes, memorising the types of sounds the door made when it opened and closed. He’d need to be listening out for it for a while yet, it seemed.

He hurried back down the hall to the room with the cupboards he’d found the uniform in. He grabbed the spare linen and the bathrobes he’d spotted earlier. Getting Cloud out of his clothes once was going to be difficult enough. Undressing and redressing him every few hours would just be a pain in the butt. Not to mention, Zack wanted to wash his own clothes at some point too.

He swung by the kitchen next, managing to avoid a group of Dorkys before having a rummage. It looked like they’d received a restock on their supplies recently, if the fresh produce was anything to go by. That was good news for him and Cloud, since they’d need something to eat and drink on the road sooner than later.

Zack had only intended to have a taste of one of the apples and check out the tin of what promised to be the kind of tropical fruit found in his home region. But it seemed his stomach had woken up at the first taste of real food. Five empty tins and half a loaf of bread later, he returned to his senses. Eating too much at once right after getting out of the tank wouldn’t end well.

One of the cloth bags that had been used to transport the goods inside was still sitting on the kitchen table. He decided to fill it with food and water bottles and take it back to the room with him. The fewer excuses he gave them to leave, the easier it’d be to keep them in check.

Zack returned quickly so he wouldn’t be ambushed while his arms were full. He had no idea why the scientists lived among the Dorkys like this, but maybe the monsters weren’t as keen on attacking people that actually seemed to be human to them.

He tried to leave that depressing thought at the door as he went back inside. It seemed no one had moved since he’d left, but that was probably to be expected when most of them were currently physically incapable of doing so. He closed the door behind him before dumping the food on the floor next to the other bed.

Zack wandered into the bathroom and put the robes down. He was glad to find it was also stocked up with towels and other toiletries. One or both of the scientists must use this room as their own living quarters. He returned to the bedroom only to find the woman was still staring at him in confusion.

“So, we’re going to wash up,” he explained as he walked over to Cloud. “You two stay in here. I found you by listening for your breathing, so don’t think I won’t hear a door open over the shower,” he tried to say in a warning tone of voice. “Eat the food or whatever, but save some for me.”

He got a slow nod in return, but it seemed neither of them were particularly chatty. It looked like he’d better get used to talking to himself. Not that that was anything new.

“Come on, shower time,” Zack announced as he picked Cloud up from the bed and went into the bathroom.

The shower head was over a bathtub, which he hoped would make things easier for them. He hesitated over whether to close the door all the way for a moment, but he figured he’d probably be able to hear them over the water if he paid attention. He turned the taps on, intending to use the bath for the first phase of cleaning.

Zack lowered Cloud into a seated position against the cupboard under the sink and paused. How was he going to do this without risking bashing his head over something again?

Zack decided to start with the easy stuff and worry about the rest when he got to it. He removed the scarf, gloves and boots first. He frowned down at the worn shoes, wondering if he’d be able to find boots in what seemed to be Cloud’s new size before they hit the road.

He started on the belts and armour next, tossing the things he was pretty sure they’d never need again to one side. But he held onto the potions and materia that should still be good despite exposure to the tank.

“Ok, now for the difficult part,” Zack said as he started undoing the fastenings down the front of Cloud’s uniform jacket. He tried to push it off one shoulder, but quickly realised that was going to be difficult without Cloud moving his arm for him. The uniform now being a few sizes too small wasn’t helping matters, either.

“Look, you’re going to have to cooperate with me on this one,” Zack teased.

He shifted Cloud into a different position, making him lean forward so his back wasn’t pressed up against the cupboard. But it seemed he still had no ability to support himself, and slumped forward until his face was pressed into Zack’s shoulder and chest.

“I guess we can make this work,” Zack joked as he tried again to get one of his arms out of a sleeve. He had to keep the shoulder Cloud was leaning against in the right position so he wouldn’t fall, yet also needed to reach out further to pull the sleeve down all the way.

Zack made a soft sound of irritation as he continued to struggle. Eventually he pulled too far and Cloud grunted with discomfort.

“Sorry, sorry,” Zack said quickly. “What if I…?”

He sat on his bottom so he could swing his leg around and step on the edge of the jacket. This freed his arm up to take hold of Cloud’s, and gently manoeuvre it out of the sleeve.

“There we go! Sheesh, should have just cut it off,” Zack muttered to himself as he pulled the uniform off his other arm and tossed it aside. “The jacket, I mean,” he clarified.

Thankfully his black undershirt was the stretchy, sweat-wicking kind. Although it was tauter than had probably been intended now, it had a lot more give than the outer garment. Zack stood up and put Cloud back into place before pulling the shirt off over his head. Cloud’s arms fell as soon as they were free from the shirt and thudded against tiled floor below. He made another sound of discomfort.

“This would be much easier if you’d do it yourself,” Zack lectured, feeling a little like Aerith. He shifted his focus from the thought for now, knowing he’d have plenty of time to dwell on that after this. “Now, unless you want a bath in your bottoms, we’re going to have to get the rest off somehow.” This time there was no reaction.

“All right, I’ll lay you down and try it that way,” Zack explained anyway.

Maybe Cloud couldn’t understand what he was saying, but he still seemed to have some level of awareness of what was going on. It only seemed polite to say something first.

Once Cloud was safely flat on his back with his head in no danger of cracking any tiles, Zack knelt over him and undid the pants. Fortunately these were designed to have a lot more room in them. He managed to get both them and his underwear off with minimal awkwardness.

It was probably a good thing Zack had decided to close the door after all. After so many years of military service, Zack was more than used to having to bathe in a crowd. But Cloud didn’t strike him as someone who’d ever be comfortable, or even tolerant, of it no matter how many times he had to do so.

Zack stood up and peered into the bath. The water level was more than high enough for what they needed. He turned the taps off, then turned to pick Cloud up again. He twitched slightly at the contact.

“It’s ok, just me. Gotta get this mako cleaned off,” Zack said cheerily before depositing him in the bath. He had a moment of panic when Cloud slid down the incline at this end of the tub, but fortunately his legs bunched up enough to stop him before his face went under the water. “Stay,” Zack said as he raised a finger.

He reached for the flannel and soap he’d found in the cupboard earlier, and got to work. It seemed they’d both have to get used to this, at least for the next few days.

“You’re going to be cleaner than you’ve ever been by the end of this, mountain boy.”

* * *

Aerith waved to the children who had come out onto the street to say goodbye to her as she left the orphanage. Her flower basket was empty, and that made her feel lighter. She always managed to grow more flowers than she could sell, and what else could she do but give them to people who needed a patch of light in their day?

Eventually the carers in Leaf House managed to call the children back inside for dinner, and she was left to make the rest of the short walk home alone. As she walked, a frown slowly crossed her face at the increasingly familiar presence nearby.

This was the third night in a row. She wasn’t going to ignore him this time.

Aerith held the basket in front of her as she came to a sudden halt and turned to stare at the entrance to the alleyway. Dignified as always, he didn’t seem to be embarrassed about being caught. He simply moved to the mouth of the alleyway, where she could see him clearly despite his dark suit in the fading daylight.

“Good evening,” Tseng said neutrally.

Aerith put her hands on her hips and leaned forward slightly. She raised an eyebrow and kept staring.

Tseng let out a gentle sigh. “I’m not here to take you anywhere. I just wanted to see if you…” Tseng frowned and looked away. Then he shook his head. “Never mind.”

Aerith pursed her lips, but adopted a more neutral posture. She’d felt _something_ a few days ago. But if this really was about Zack, she didn’t want to inadvertently give away information that they didn’t know.

She reached into her jacket pocket and retrieved the latest letter she’d written. She had to admit her temper had been growing short when she’d put pen to paper this time. But if he really was back from wherever he’d been, he probably didn’t deserve her ire. At least, not that much of it.

“You had better not try to deliver this one until he’s had a chance to explain himself,” she said quietly. She dropped it into her empty basket.

“You haven’t received any phone calls?” Tseng asked hurriedly.

Aerith smiled sadly at the memory of the last time they’d spoken. He’d been abrupt over the phone, clearly occupied with whatever had put him in this situation at the time. But she had waited this long. She could wait a little longer if it meant finally being able to hear the full story.

“I’m pretty sure Zack thinks his phone can only receive calls. Maybe his old boss told him that to avoid getting enthusiastic 2am calls?” she teased.

Tseng straightened and took half a step forward. Aerith turned away, and hurriedly made the rest of her short journey home. But she did slow down a little when she realised he wasn’t following her anymore.

Aerith was soon greeted by the impressive greenery of the garden that she had cultivated around her home. The evening light dimmed the bright colours of the flowers, but her mother had the lights on in the kitchen, and that made the sight warm enough.

 _Come home, Zack_.


	3. Chapter 3

Cloud blinked slowly up at the ceiling. His head still felt like a mess, but at least he had some control over his body again.

He slowly moved to look to one side, but it still felt like he’d just caused an avalanche behind his eyes. Even the worst cold he could remember having hadn’t been this bad.

He focused on Zack, who was sitting with his back to him on the edge of the double bed. He was fiddling with something on the bedside table. Cloud doubted he had gotten much sleep since their escape.

Cloud had retained some awareness of the past however long it had been since then. He understood why Zack had had to clean him, but he was pretty sure being seen naked and helpless by someone he admired would never not be embarrassing.

His stomach’s protests put an end to his hesitations, though. Cloud somehow managed to roll onto his side and reach out to get Zack’s attention. He only managed to poke him in the back, but it was enough to make him all but leap into the air.

Zack held a hand to his chest as he looked down at him. “Cloud, you scared the shit out of…” He trailed off and squinted at him. “You ok?”

“T-toilet,” Cloud managed to get out of his stuck throat.

“Oh, damn, your bladder finally remember what it’s supposed to do?” Zack teased, but quickly lifted him up and stalked into the attached bathroom. It seemed Zack was intent on standing him up in front of the toilet, and hovering around behind him to make sure he didn’t fall.

“Other end,” Cloud muttered, feeling too queasy to care about being embarrassed anymore.

“Oh,” Zack muttered as he released him. “ _Oh_ ,” he repeated when Cloud dropped to his knees and bent over the toilet.

Thankfully his body seemed to be willing to take care of the rest on its own. He felt a hand on his head, but it didn’t occur to him that it was Zack holding his hair out the line of fire until it was over.

Zack laughed quietly. “You sure, uh, got a way with words there,” he teased as he shifted his hand away.

Cloud rested his head against the cool rim of the toilet and groaned in protest. He noticed the robe he was wearing was barely on his body anymore, even if it did take him a moment to connect the dots and realise that this was what he looked like now. This couldn’t just be Soldier enhancements alone. What had they done to him?

He sighed and fumbled to pull it around him more closely. His head was still stuffy, but he had to admit he felt a little better now.

“Hey, if you’re well enough to move around on your own now, you can put some real clothes on,” Zack said as he turned away and approached the sink, putting some distance between them. “We’ll be twinsies,” he joked, plucking at the Soldier turtleneck.

Cloud tilted his head to the side and almost immediately regretted it. He brought a hand up to try and hold his forehead together. “Huh?”

“The only thing I could find around here other than musty lab coats were Soldier uniforms. Maybe they had bigger plans for us, after all?”

“This isn’t quite how I envisioned earning the uniform,” Cloud muttered.

It was all still so unreal. Everything that had happened, and so quickly. His hero turning into a demon in front of his eyes. The searing heat of fire against his skin. How suffocating the helmet had felt.

His mother…

Cloud only noticed how ragged his breathing had become when a cautious footstep landed behind him. “Hey, it’s not that bad,” Zack said.

Fingers gently closed around his wrists and he pulled Cloud’s hands away from the toilet bowl. The porcelain crumbled between his fingers, chinking against the tiles below.

“Shit,” Zack muttered. “We needed that.”

Cloud glanced up at him, angry at first. But it soon occurred to him that Zack had no way of knowing which rail his thoughts had shot along after he’d finished talking. Still, now that it was on his mind, he had to know for sure.

“Did… did you see her at any point, Zack? My mum?”

He hesitated, seemingly surprised by the question. “Not with my own eyes. But, with the fire and…”

“Sephiroth said he killed her,” Cloud interrupted. “But I…” He remembered Zack had been there when his body had finally given out and fallen down the stairs. “I did kill him, didn’t I?”

Zack glanced away momentarily before nodding. “Yeah, you did it,” he said, bending down slightly to squeeze his shoulder. He didn’t seem to be lying, exactly, but something didn’t feel quite right. Still, Zack was the only person in the immediate vicinity that he could trust.

“Can we go to the graveyard before we leave?” he asked quietly.

Zack hesitated again, even more obviously this time. He knelt down next to Cloud, eyes drifting to the sick still glowing in the toilet.

“Look, I checked out the town yesterday. From a distance, I mean,” Zack said quietly. “From what I can tell, it looks just like it did back then. Before the fire.”

Cloud frowned, and felt his mouth open slightly. That didn’t make any sense. Did it?

“Looks like it could be a Shinra cover-up, so they don’t have to say anything about what really happened to Sephiroth. Or us, I guess.” Zack shifted uncomfortably and gripped one of his hands with the other. “Of course we can go, if you want. But I wouldn’t be surprised if, you know, if she’s not there,” he finished quietly. “At least, not in a marked grave.”

Cloud felt his vision blur, and then his ragged breathing returned. He brought a hand up to wipe away the sudden deluge of tears as they trickled down his face. His breaths became harsher and his muscles tensed, as though he could get the grief out in the same way as the mess in the toilet.

“It’s ok,” Zack said quietly as he reached an arm out and pulled him close. “It’ll be ok.”

Cloud felt some sense of shame at being seen like this by a Soldier, but reminded himself that didn’t matter anymore. Everything he’d been striving toward and dreaming about for years had been taken away in a matter of hours. It wasn’t like his rank mattered anymore.

It felt like an age had passed before he stopped crying. But Zack had stayed close the whole time, and continued to mutter platitudes over the top of his head. Cloud wasn’t sure if he was trying to make him feel better, or himself. Possibly both.

Cloud sighed and leaned back slightly. Zack was slow to drop his arms. “You should’ve just left me in the tank,” he muttered in the direction of the floor.

Zack seemed personally offended by his comment. “Don’t say that!” he exclaimed, getting right up in Cloud’s face. He had to put a hand out behind him to catch himself as he flinched back further. “Look, we’ll be out of here tomorrow. You keep an eye on those two,” he said, jabbing a thumb in the general direction of the bedroom, “and I’ll sort out a vehicle and supplies.”

Cloud was still a little overwhelmed by the forcefulness of his response, so he decided to change the subject. “Where are we going?”

“Well, that’s still up for debate, I guess,” Zack replied, settling back into his previous kneeling position. He glanced at the door and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Not to rub it in your face or anything, but Gongaga would be nice. My parents must be losing their minds.”

Cloud nodded as he visualised the route. That was to the south. They shouldn’t have too much trouble getting there on a normal tank of fuel. But something was still bothering him.

“Won’t that be the first place they look for you?”

“Yeah, so we should hurry up and go there before it gets put into indefinite lockdown,” Zack said quickly. “Please, my parents always wanted a child that wasn’t such a loudmouth. They’ll love you!”

Cloud snorted at the ridiculous reasoning, and Zack smiled to himself. Clearly he’d been trying to improve his mood. It was a different tack to the stoic endurance Cloud normally employed, but it wasn’t ineffective.

“Fine then, tomorrow. But you’d better be ready to drive the whole way. I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle that level of concentration for a while.”

“Yes, awesome! We can go to Midgar after,” Zack said happily.

“ _What?_ ” Poking the hornet’s nest by showing up on their doorstep didn’t seem to be the best idea right now.

“Yeah, I’ve got someone else I need to catch up with,” Zack teased. But his expression soon became serious again. “And hiding under their nose might not be such a bad tactic, you know? The slums aren’t exactly strictly monitored, and there’s enough of a crowd to blend into.” Cloud mustn’t have looked convinced by this point, because Zack continued. “Unlike you, I can’t happily be a hermit forever.”

Right, Zack actually liked being around other people for some reason. “Fine, I guess it makes sense. You’re the boss.”

“Tch, not anymore, remember?” Zack said lightly. “I think being reported KIA means I don’t even rank anymore. Not that I’d go back even if they let me.”

Cloud nodded. He tried to climb to his feet. “If we’re leaving tomorrow, I should go back to bed. It’s late.”

“Pfft, ‘toilet’, ‘bed’. So many demands,” Zack teased as he put Cloud’s arm around his shoulders and helped him back to the bedroom.

Cloud smirked at him. “Just hurry it up.”

* * *

Zack easily woke before the sun, and immediately went downstairs into the garage to double-check everything was in order. He opened the back of the beaten up Shinra four-wheel drive and looked over their supplies.

They had more than enough food and water to make it to Gongaga. Going to Midgar would require a boat, so he fully expected to have to abandon the vehicle after refuelling it maybe once. Thankfully there was plenty of that lying around in containers they could take with. He guessed the scientists didn’t have to do much fieldwork.

Satisfied, Zack returned to the bedroom. Cloud was sitting on the bed rubbing his forehead. He’d already changed into the uniform. He was still stuck in his too small boots for now, but Zack had assured him they’d keep an eye out for something more suitable while they were on the road.

“Looking sharp,” Zack said enthusiastically. Cloud didn’t seem to share his energy. He turned his attention to the other bed where the scientists were waiting nervously. “All right, you’re officially not hostages anymore,” he said as he adjusted his gloves. He focused on Johno and cast a more powerful cure spell.

He sat up with a look of wonder in his eyes. His counterpart, Ari, glared at him. “Why didn’t you do that before?”

Zack waved a hand vaguely as he turned away to grab the buster sword and placed it on his back. “You know why. Keeping an eye on one of you was hard enough,” he insisted, ignoring the guilty feeling in his chest.

“Be glad it was only the cure materia,” Cloud added mildly as he stood up. He tucked the orange tonfa that had been salvaged from his old gear into his thigh holster. They seemed to find this intimidating enough.

“Now, obviously we’d appreciate it if you could keep your mouths shut for a few more days,” Zack added. “But I mean, what are we going to be able to do about it if you don’t?”

“Mm, at least give me time to visit my mother’s grave before you start that,” Cloud deadpanned again.

Zack raised an eyebrow at him. He wasn’t sure how someone who appeared to be so innocuous managed to muster so much bad cop energy, but it seemed to be effective against these two.

“Right, anyway, let’s go,” he added lamely. It wasn’t like he had anything left to say to the scientists that’d had a hand in keeping them trapped for so long.

Cloud joined him out in the hallway and closed the door behind him automatically. But on the way down to the garage they were finally mobbed by the Dorkys that had been stalking Zack for the past three days or so.

Zack sighed with annoyance, but the other two probably weren’t going anywhere until they left. “Come on then, let’s get this over with,” he muttered as he drew his weapon. It was probably better for Cloud to practice on something that wasn’t too dangerous while he was recovering, anyway.

Zack went after the right side of the group while Cloud went for the left. A few swipes of the sword was enough to get rid of most of them. He looked around when he heard a sudden, loud crack of plastic.

Cloud hopped back out of range of the enemies while staring down at the tonfa in his hand. It seemed some of the plastic coating had cracked right off thanks to the power of his blow. Zack was beginning to think there was a lot more to his enhancements than he’d thought. This couldn’t just be a result of not knowing how to control his newfound strength yet.

But that was something they’d have to worry about later.

“Maybe just use that to defend for now?” Zack suggested. “They have less chance of destroying it.”

Cloud nodded and flipped the weapon back so the longer part was parallel to his forearm and fist. He threw a punch at the remaining enemy, sending it halfway across the room. It seemed it wasn’t prepared to get back up after that one.

Zack sheathed his sword and continued on his way over to the final set of stairs. “Come on,” he said as he passed Cloud, who still seemed to be stunned. “We’ve still got a graveyard to visit before the sun comes up.”

Cloud put his weapon away and followed him. “I changed my mind,” he murmured. “I just said that to guilt them into buying us some time.”

Zack didn’t enjoy lying, but he couldn’t really judge him for it given the situation they were in. “Are you sure? We do have time, we just need to get there sooner than later.”

Cloud avoided his gaze as they approached the car. “Yes. I think I’d find it more upsetting to see her grave isn’t marked. Let’s just get out of here.”

“If you’re sure,” Zack replied quietly. “We probably won’t be able to return here for a really long time.” If ever.

“I’m sure.”

Zack laid his sword across the back seat before climbing into the driver’s side. He wondered whether he should have said anything about what he suspected Shinra had been up to. But maybe he really was saving Cloud from more unnecessary pain.

By the time they’d cleared the town, Cloud had relaxed slightly. Zack wondered if he should give him something to occupy his mind.

“Hey, only one of your PHSs are company issue, right?”

Cloud glanced up after a moment, as if leaving his fugue had taken significant effort. “Yeah, this one’s for personal stuff,” he said as he opened the glovebox and reached into it. The three devices were lined up neatly on top of all the other junk Zack had shoved in there earlier.

“You’ll find a number on mine for Aerith Gainsborough. You should save it to yours. If we need to call her, there’s slightly less chance it’ll be tracked back to us and our location through a personal device.”

“Ok,” Cloud agreed. “Is she the person from Midgar you want to see?”

Zack couldn’t help the soft smile that appeared on his face. “Yeah, she’s the one.”

“Got it,” Cloud replied quietly, and busied himself with the task. He still looked down, but this was the best he could do for now.

Zack had to believe things would get better for them soon.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just want to thank everyone for all the feedback on this one so far :)
> 
> Also I’m real confused about when the reactor in Gongaga exploded so forgive me if Zack’s lack of reaction is odd. I’m going to assume he at least heard about it before now, and knows his parents are fine.

The closer they got to his hometown, the stronger the buzz of energy in Zack’s gut became. He was worried that someone from Shinra might have already been despatched to wait around Gongaga until he showed up, but he had to make sure his parents were all right.

Besides, he owed them more of an explanation than that one shitty letter had allowed.

Zack glanced at Cloud before turning his attention back to the bumpy unsealed road. Even though his head was pressed against the window, he was still somehow asleep. But Zack was sure he would have managed it too if their roles were reversed.

At least two Soldier operatives inside a Shinra vehicle wouldn’t look that strange to the average civilian. It was hardly the normal mode of transport for military operatives, but people minded their own business around here. Driving right into town like this probably wasn’t the best idea, though.

Zack glanced at the small sign on the side of the road as they passed it. It was an indicator of how far it was to the next town.

“Only thirty to go,” he muttered, more to himself than anything.

He was tired, but it was too dangerous to risk hunkering down somewhere to rest when the phantom of Shinra was breathing down their necks. If it got really bad, he knew taking a certain combination of potions would keep him going until they could. He’d still have to repay the sleep debt later, of course. But that was a problem his future self would have the luxury of trying to figure out.

Still, Cloud’s condition was improving exponentially every day. Hopefully he’d be able to drive at least part of the way to the coast by the time they were ready to move on.

The remaining kilometres disappeared quickly, and soon enough they were coming up on the outskirts of the old reactor. Zack chose a place to park among the other junk embellished with the Shinra logo. He supposed he could add himself to the list of messes Shinra had yet to clean up now.

Cloud had stirred when the car slowed down, and was more or less awake by the time he’d pulled over. He glanced around, looking confused.

“Is this the place?”

Zack smiled lopsidedly. “Yeah, don’t worry, the actual town isn’t this much of a trash heap. Looks like the reactor blowing caused more damage than was reported, though,” he added quietly. He needed to change the subject. “We should put some supplies in the backpacks before we leave the car. Anyone could be here waiting for us.”

Cloud nodded and opened his door, stumbling out onto the ground. “My legs,” he groaned quietly.

“Don’t I know it,” Zack replied as he tried to shake out his own. He’d only taken one short break on the way down, and it was well into the afternoon now.

They packed the PHSs and some food and water into packs, though since Cloud wasn’t carrying a giant sword on his back he had the honour of being the main pack mule. Zack carried a lighter load over one shoulder, though he could tell the constant bumping against the sword was going to get old quickly.

Cloud silently followed him into town, rubbing at his eyes every now and then as he went. Being able to march while still half asleep had to be something he’d learnt in training.

“You ok back there?” Zack asked. “The path widens up here.”

Cloud just grunted in response, and didn’t move to catch up to him. “I’m fine, just trying not to be sick.”

Zack remembered Cloud wasn’t a fan of traveling. Not that he’d let it stop him from being deployed far and wide. Maybe he’d handle it better if he was driving, though.

Zack exhaled quietly as they reached the familiar buildings of his hometown. It’d been nearly ten years since he’d more or less run away to join the army. Not that staying away for the last four or so was his fault, but still.

Before emerging from the trees to walk down the main road, he paused and waited for Cloud to catch up. “You hear anything?”

“Just people moving around? A chocobo down the street?” Cloud replied softly.

“No Turks? Guns?”

Cloud tilted his head and held onto the straps of his pack. “I don’t know what Turks sound like, but no, I don’t think so.”

“That’s fair,” Zack conceded. Cloud looked quietly amused, but didn’t mock him any further. “I’ll go up to the door first. You hang back a bit. I don’t know if there’s someone unsavoury in there or not. Or, if it is just my parents it’ll be less of a shock to them.”

Cloud nodded, remaining silent in the face of his nervous chatter. Zack made his way down the street and approached the front door of his parents’ place. The familiarity of the sight held a kind of comfort, but it was the small differences—like the new coat of paint on the front door—that reminded him of how much he’d missed.

He paused with his fist raised to knock on the door. He glanced back at Cloud, who looked rightly confused by his hesitation.

“What’s wrong?”

“What do I even say to them?” Zack muttered. “It’s been ten years.”

Cloud folded his arms. “You didn’t tell anyone you were leaving?” It sounded like even Cloud hadn’t been that irresponsible.

Zack shrugged helplessly. “They would have told me not to go?”

Cloud rolled his eyes. “Just knock already.” He sobered and added, “This could be the last chance you get.”

Zack opened his mouth, then closed it again. He couldn’t argue with Cloud, of all people, over that. He turned back to the door and made himself knock.

After a few short moments, the door slowly inched open. Part of a man’s face appeared in the small gap between the door and the frame.

“What is it now?”

Zack was sure it was his father. The voice matched well enough. But he must have only noticed the uniform. And based on what he’d said, it sounded like he’d been annoyed by someone else from Shinra recently.

“Dad, it’s me,” Zack blurted, worried they’d need to hurry this up after all.

His father’s eyes widened and he opened the door further. Zack waved awkwardly as he continued to stare. His father stepped to the side and opened the door wider.

“Inside, quickly!”

Zack glanced back at Cloud and beckoned him forward as he headed inside. “Uh, excuse me,” Cloud said quietly as he stepped over the threshold as well.

“What’s… Zack?”

He could guess the many different things his father wanted to ask. But first thing was first.

“Did someone come around here asking about me already?”

“Yes, a young red-headed girl in a dark suit,” he replied. “Are you in trouble?”

“How long ago?”

“Yesterday evening,” his father replied. “She and her people left last night, but I don’t know if or when they’ll be back. What’s going on, Zack?” he asked more firmly.

Zack knew he wouldn’t get away with asking a question in response to a question again, but where was he even supposed to begin? “That’s a long story.”

His father folded his arms. “Do you really think your mother is going to let you leave here without making sure you eat something? We’ll have time.”

Zack’s shoulders tensed slightly at the thought of his mother. He loved both of his parents, but there was a reason he hadn’t said anything before vanishing.

“You’re sure the suits left and haven’t come back yet?” Zack asked, but he was already halfway through taking off his boots. He couldn’t bring himself to leave yet.

His father turned away and moved into the main part of the house. Zack waited for Cloud to get out of his boots before following.

The moment he walked into the kitchen he was hit by the smell of his mother’s cooking, and the associated nostalgia. Almost immediately after he was hit by the woman herself as she flung her arms around him.

Zack froze in surprise before letting his arms settle and returning the gesture. Somehow it hadn’t occurred to him that he’d be tall enough to look down at her now.

“Mum…”

She took a step back and planted her hands on her hips. “Should I even bother asking where you’ve been?” she demanded. “Do you think your mother doesn’t love you!?”

It turned out being physically taller didn’t make him feel any less small. “You wouldn’t have let me leave if I had’ve said…”

“And now what have you gotten yourself into?” she added loudly, seemingly uninterested in his excuses. She shook her head. “How are you ever going to find a wife now?”

Zack’s eyes were ready to roll out of his head. Of course that was her biggest concern. If he had have stayed, he was sure he would have been expected to start his own family with the neighbour’s daughter the second he turned 20.

“I know it isn’t really any of my business,” Cloud began, just loud enough to be heard over the commotion. “But I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. We’re going to see his girlfriend next.”

Zack’s mother leaned to the side to look around him. It seemed she hadn’t really noticed Cloud was there before. But the presence of a guest was clearly causing an inner conflict. Eventually hospitality won out.

“Oh, are you a friend of Zack’s? I should have offered you a seat before. Come on,” she said more softly as she pulled out one of the stools around the dining table. “You can put your things down,” she added before marching over to the stove to start serving dinner.

Cloud glanced at him in slight trepidation. Zack silently gestured toward the seats, not wanting to draw attention to himself again. But of course that could only last so long. Roughly the amount of time it took for them to all take a seat around the table and start eating, it turned out.

“So,” his mother began, pausing to blow on her spoonful of stew. “Tell me about this girl.”

“It’s not _that_ serious,” Zack muttered.

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” she demanded. “Just what have you been getting up to in that big city?”

Zack cringed away from her ire. How did he always manage to choose the worst thing to say when it came to his mother?

“Th-that’s not what I meant,” he tried to explain, but it was too late to put a halt to the tirade now.

Cloud avoided meeting his eyes for the rest of the meal. Zack was jealous of his poker face.

* * *

It was too close to dark by the time they managed to convince his parents they needed to leave. Stumbling through the jungle in the dark wasn’t usually a good idea, but they got lucky and avoided any monsters.

At least, Zack had assumed it was luck. Right up until the point Cissnei stepped out from behind the car.

Cloud started next to him and immediately reached for his tonfa. Zack held one hand out to make him stop, even as the other reached for the buster sword.

“Having fun?” Cissnei asked casually. She didn’t seem to be perturbed by either of them.

“What of it?” Zack muttered.

Cissnei glanced away, but she unfolded her arms. “I can only feign ignorance for so long. You have to hurry up and go into hiding.”

There was a long moment of silence, and then Zack finally let go of his sword. Cloud slowly slid back into a normal stance.

“We have been in hiding. For years, apparently. Fat lot of good that did us.”

Cissnei tilted her head as though she was taking his point into consideration. “Shinra is planning something big. They can’t have Soldiers running around as free agents.”

That didn’t sound good.

“I have to go,” Cissnei said after a few more moments of silence. She began to walk back into the jungle. “Hurry,” she said over her shoulder before fading from sight.

“Who…?” Cloud began to ask, but Zack was already making his way over to the car.

“She’s a Turk,” he said, unsure of what else to say. “I think we should take her advice.”


	5. Chapter 5

Aerith circled the flowerbed in the church once again. She’d come here to find a calmer mindset, and remind herself that there was no sense in being impatient to see Zack again. But that was no easy feat.

She hoped he’d receive at least one of her attempts to send a letter. If he didn’t, he might just assume she wasn’t interested anymore.

She’d almost convinced herself to try moving on a few weeks earlier. Yet the mere suggestion that he might be back soon already had her right back where she’d started. Aerith sighed as she knelt down in front of the flowers and closed her eyes.

Aerith jumped when her phone started vibrating against the wooden floorboards. She glanced down at it, but didn’t recognise the number. She wasn’t in the habit of answering calls from unknown sources, but she couldn’t stand the thought of potentially missing a call from Zack now.

“Hello?” she answered quietly, only to be greeted by an engine running in the background. Was he on the road?

“Aerith? Is that you?” a faint voice asked.

Her heart thudded in her chest at the familiar cadence of his voice, even if the tone was slightly deeper than she remembered. “Zack?” she asked hurriedly.

“Yes, thank you for not changing your number all this time.”

Aerith laughed a little, relief and excitement making her giddy. “Oh, but it’s fine for you to change yours?” she teased.

“Oh, no, we’re calling you from Cloud’s personal one. Hopefully it’ll take Shinra longer to track our location this way.”

That was a concerning thought. “I appreciate the call, Zack. But should you really be taking that kind of risk? You know where to find me.”

“It doesn’t matter now, we should arrive before they figure it out,” Zack assured her. Part of her wondered how much of that was true.

“We? Cloud?” she asked, trying to work out who Zack was talking about. Probably one of his co-workers, but she didn’t recognise the name. He probably wasn’t another Soldier.

Zack didn’t answer right away. A sly smile crossed Aerith’s face when she thought she’d figured it out. There was only one other recurring person in Zack’s stories that immediately came to mind, and he seemed to be quite fond of him.

Fond enough to defect from Shinra and run away with.

“Oh, wait. You mean your favourite infantryman, right?”

“Uh,” Zack answered nervously, basically confirming she was right. “Haha, very funny. Yes, that guy.”

“Funny?” she asked innocently. “That’s the impression I got off you. ‘He’s the only person in infantry with any spine or ambition’,” she added, poorly imitating his ranting.

“ _Aerith_ ,” Zack muttered emphatically.

She giggled mercilessly. “Well, well. It’s nice to finally meet you, anyway.”

“Um, nice to meet you too?” a second voice replied quietly.

Aerith was happy to have dropped the hint, especially since Zack would be too dense to mention the fact he clearly wanted them to be closer than ex-colleagues. Of course, she wasn’t sure where it’d leave her if they did go there. But she wanted the person she loved to be happy.

“So, I suppose the story is too long for me to ask you what happened now,” she added, filling in the awkward silence. “Where do you want to meet? When?”

“Depends on the boat schedules and whether Shinra cuts them off,” Zack said, seemingly willing to focus on the business of returning at least. “We were in Nibelheim,” he explained vaguely, probably worried the call might be intercepted.

“Ok, well, let me know in advance if you get the chance. I’ll more than likely either be at home or in the church, so you should be able to find me as long as you can remember how to get to Sector 5.”

“How could I forget?” Zack replied softly. “We’ll see you soon. I promise.”

“Ok,” Aerith replied.

She knew what she wanted to say next, but it got caught somewhere between her brain and mouth. They’d never said it to each other in as many words before. But she had to be brave. She might not get another chance.

“I love you, Zack.”

The silence persisted a little too long. But she couldn’t regret saying it.

It was true, after all.

Right as she was about to say goodbye properly, Zack cleared his throat. “I love you, too. Just give me a few more days.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Aerith said brightly, trying to remain cheery for now. The rest really did need to be dealt with in person.

* * *

Tseng sat alone at the long meeting table with his back to the shuttered windows. His head rested against his fist as he sat back in his chair with his legs crossed at the knee. He stared at the conference phone with a slight frown.

“The maintenance team called it in at the end of the third day after their escape,” Reno continued to report, voice raised to be heard over the blades of the helicopter. “Seems like they headed south directly to Gongaga, but arrived after Cissnei had left the area. She said she heard about them from the townspeople later that evening. They’re in an old four wheeler, intended destination unknown.”

Both of them ignored the fact that Cissnei had more than likely encountered the two of them in person. Tseng doubted she’d show her face again until all of this had well and truly blown over.

“What direction are they suspected to be heading in?”

“Well, north, only because there’s not much to the south,” Reno remarked. “From what’s known about the two of them, the places they’re most familiar with after their hometowns would be Costa del Sol and Midgar.”

“That doesn’t mean they’ll actually go there.”

“What other leads do we have?” Tseng could more or less hear the shrug in his voice. “We’ll take the scenic route.”

“Understood,” Tseng replied before hanging up the phone. He had more calls waiting for him on the other lines.

But now was hardly the time to push the team.

* * *

Zack turned and waited for Cloud to catch up. They’d abandoned the car outside Costa del Sol and had to walk the rest of the way to the coastal town. But Cloud still didn’t seem to faring well.

“You ok?” Zack asked when he was close enough to hear.

Cloud rolled his eyes. “You try walking any meaningful distance in boots two sizes too small. I’m surprised it took this long for me to start blistering.”

Zack winced sympathetically. “Well, overpriced as this place is, they’re used to keeping stock for troops. They should have suitable footwear around somewhere. We need to buy new clothes anyway. First class uniforms stand out a bit.”

“Good thing it’s night time, then?”

Zack inclined his head. “Yeah, paying the right people should keep things quiet long enough for us to get on a boat.”

Cloud looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know what happened to the money I had on me. It was probably still at home when the fire went up.”

Zack waved a hand in front of his face. “Don’t worry about that. Soldier wages, remember? Though actually, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to access my account. If it’s even still possible.”

Zack mentally ran through the list of items he’d hoarded over the last few years of his career. Most of it was more than likely in Shinra’s possession, since he’d left it in his old quarters. But he still had more potions and materia than they’d ever need on him.

“We’ll find someone who wants to buy some of our stuff for cash, don’t worry.”

Cloud nodded, but didn’t meet his eye. He was probably aware that they’d get a terrible price for the items. But that didn’t matter when they were so close to their destination. They’d have to figure out how to make a living in the slums sooner or later anyway.

“Come on, let’s go have a look before everything shuts and we have to risk stealing instead.”

To his surprise, one of the first item vendors they came across recognised him from the many attempts at holidays he’d taken here. Thankfully he didn’t seem to be aware Zack had a hit out on him. In the end he managed to get a reasonable price for some of his rarer items.

“Do you know everyone?” Cloud asked as they left to hurry over to the clothing stores while they were still open. “It’s been so long since he would’ve seen you last.”

Zack patted Cloud’s shoulder with a smile. “It’s called building rapport. I’m too loud to forget, right?”

Cloud snorted. “I think I could stand to,” he retorted.

They entered the shop to find the owner was sorting out the till. “Oh, good evening,” she greeted. “Sorry, I forgot to put the sign out. We’re closed.”

“Hey, we’ll be done before you’ve finished counting all that out! Please, we’ve got to get out of these uniforms,” Zack said as he approached the counter. He tried to subtly wave at Cloud behind his back, suggesting that he should start looking. “We just got into town.”

Thankfully this lady seemed to find his antics endearing rather than imposing. She smiled and gave a small shrug. “Well, ok, but I do need to close down properly. Just five minutes, ok? We’ll be open early again tomorrow.”

“Thank you!” Zack replied with a wave before making his way over to Cloud.

He was standing on the edge of the women’s section, staring at something intensely. Zack approached from behind, but Cloud didn’t seem to notice.

“Not judging your tastes or anything, but we should probably try to blend in until we reach Midgar,” Zack teased quietly while he tried to work out what had actually caught his attention.

Cloud looked around at him quickly, face glowing bright red almost instantly. “That’s not what I…!” He cut himself off when he realised how loudly he was speaking. “It’s just the scarf. I remember my mother used to crochet using that stitch all the time.”

Cloud turned away after delivering his stilted explanation and made a beeline for the shoe section. Zack turned back to the rack and took a closer look at the item he seemed to be talking about.

The woollen garment was even more overpriced than everything else in the tourist area. With the gil they had, they’d probably barely be able to afford the stuff they actually did need. And then they’d have to at least try to get tickets, though stowing away seemed to be the most realistic option right now.

Zack glanced around the store and saw the woman at the counter was still focused on counting out and bagging the money. He pulled his PHS out and took a few snaps of the garment, trying to capture the details. He was sure Aerith knew someone who knew someone in the slums that could make something like this for a reasonable price.

Satisfied, he turned away to find something plain to wear in civilian crowds. The fewer people who saw them in uniform, the better.

But he still wasn’t entirely sure what they were going to do with the sword yet.

* * *

Cloud groaned as the sudden up and down motions of the small freighter caused his stomach to backflip over itself again. Obviously escaping from the mansion had been nothing but an awful mistake. He should have just stayed in the tube. At least he wouldn’t have had to make this god awful trip between continents ever again.

He squinted up at Zack when he came to stand over him again. He did look concerned, but he also seemed to be getting more amused as time went on.

“To think, Shinra’s greatest weapon to date, felled by a few waves,” Zack said solemnly.

Cloud glared sullenly from where he’d settled flat on his back on the floor. “Shut up.” He was pretty sure he sounded further from threatening than he’d ever been. He blinked slowly up at what he could see of the ceiling between the storage crates. “Do you really think that’s what they were trying to do with me?”

Zack gave an exaggerated shrug. “Who knows? You’re not taking it quite like any other Soldier I’ve seen before. Not even…” Zack trailed off and turned away slightly.

“Not even Sephiroth?” Cloud finished, ignoring the twinge of complicated emotion that accompanied the name. Part of it was still positive and awe inspiring, but that was to be expected when he hadn’t had time to process anything yet.

“Right,” Zack mumbled. “Your physical strength and resilience has obviously been augmented. I wonder if your magic ability increased as well. You ever get to use materia in training?”

Cloud shook his head, glad for the distraction of conversation. “Not really. We were taught how to cast a cure and use basic fire and lightning, but I’ve never been deployed with the equipment for it before.”

“Typical,” Zack replied as he leaned against one of the cargo crates. “Well, you’ve got some slots in that bracer we got. We can try it out before we go into the city.”

“Don’t know how much good that’s going to do us as far as making money goes,” Cloud replied softly. “How are we even going to survive?”

Out here he could fall back on foraging and hunting if he really needed to. But that wasn’t really an option within the city walls.

Zack raised a finger. “Just remember what I told you about rapport.” Cloud raised an eyebrow, and Zack sighed. “There’ll be some people who’ll pay us to get rid of monsters and Shinra tech in the local area, even if they can only pay in food or something. We’ll be fine!”

“You just say that because you have the option to mooch off your girlfriend if it all goes bad,” Cloud teased. It was none of his business, but some strange part of him had felt disappointed when he’d heard Zack and Aerith talking to each other. They had obviously been close.

“I swear, if I start getting letters from my mother asking about the wedding, I’m making you organise it,” Zack said as he folded his arms and shook his head.

Cloud just shrugged. “I didn’t know what else to say to get her off your back. I got a similar lecture from my own mother, you know.”

Though he’d felt like a failure at the time, it was nice to be able to think back and remember her saying she was proud of him. Cloud let his head fall back, then bent his knees so his feet could ground against the floor. His palms pressed flat against the metal flooring.

It didn’t really help mitigate the swaying sensation, but it was nice to pretend he had some kind of control over the situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should probably clarify, this is slow burn for the OT3. But if you've read this far you probably figured that out already!


	6. Chapter 6

Zack was relieved to be out in the sun and wind again. The cargo compartments weren’t exactly nice to be in for hours on end, even without poor Cloud threatening to upchuck every five minutes.

Surprisingly, blending in with the few other passengers on their way off the vessel had been simple enough. The staff had just waved them on without so much as questioning the oversized canvas bag he’d hidden the sword in. He couldn’t really pretend it was anything else, but he found other people ignored it if he pretended it wasn’t there.

Or maybe they had guessed what it was and had just assumed they were actual Soldier operatives trying to keep a low profile.

Zack pulled the brim of his cap down as they stepped off the dock and into Junon proper. He’d never really spent that much time here, but he knew the main transport routes and accommodation areas from his various deployments. He looked back at Cloud, who was determinedly staring down at the line painted on the road as he followed.

“Hey, you probably know this place better than I do,” Zack said as he slowed to walk beside him. He was probably still feeling seasick.

Cloud glanced up at him. “Ah, yeah, I basically lived here for a few months. And the Shinras and Heidegger do love calling people in for their parades.” Apparently Cloud didn’t feel the same way. “It wasn’t always like that?”

Zack shrugged. “I don’t know, actually. I uh, was on the officer fast track, you know. So…”

He didn’t want to sound like he was bragging to someone he knew would’ve jumped at the opportunity to be in the same place. But that was the reason he hadn’t spent as much time around here as most. It seemed the gift of the gab had got him somewhere after all.

“Oh, right. Of course,” Cloud replied with a nod. “I guess you can’t reach first class before turning twenty the normal way.”

Zack shrugged slightly. His last promotion had been circumstantial more than anything. Shinra needed a certain number of first classes to parade around, apparently.

As they turned off the main street, Zack noticed a kid with an armful of newspapers was eyeing them off. As soon as he saw Zack looking, he waved a hand.

“Hey misters, you just got off the boat right? Want a paper to catch up on the local news? Only 10 gil!”

Zack pulled his hat down, but dug around in his pocket for the spare change from their last lot of shopping. It’d be good to see if Shinra had published anything official about them yet. He’d probably learn more by talking to the kid, though.

“Sure, here you go,” he said as he handed over twice the money that had been asked for. The kid seemed to realise what he meant by it when he only took one of the papers he offered. “What’s been going on around here? Haven’t been back this way in years.”

He looked thoughtful for a moment. “The biggest news right now is that Shinra is looking for some missing Soldiers that have confusion on a level never seen before. I even saw some suits around here yesterday,” he confided quietly. “You know, those secret agents Shinra pretends don’t exist.”

“Oh really?” Zack asked, trying to sound amused when really he was nervous. He’d suspected getting through Junon might be the hardest part of the trip. But despite their attempt to get here quickly, it seemed they hadn’t been able to outmanoeuvre Shinra’s PR team.

“Yeah, and this place is turning into more of a ghost town by the day!” the kid added, seeming to enjoy the attention. “Five or so vehicles of troops are going out for every one coming in! What do you think they’re going to do with a whole company?”

Zack resisted the temptation to glance back at Cloud. They could talk about it later. For now he wanted to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to him.

“Sounds crazy! Maybe they’re after the monster that inflicted the confusion?” Zack suggested.

He wondered who had come up with that one. But he supposed straight up saying two Soldiers had defected after being mistreated wasn’t exactly conducive to Shinra’s image, nor for getting more saps from the boonies to come into town to enlist.

The kid’s eyes brightened, and Zack guessed he’d started mentally speculating. Zack gave half a smile and wondered if this would grow into some kind of new conspiracy theory.

“Thanks, anyway,” Zack said as he raised the paper and turned away. Cloud nodded at him before following Zack down the smaller street.

“If the barracks is empty, do you think we’d be able to sneak into a shut down section for a proper rest?” Cloud asked quietly. “I know you want to leave as soon as possible, but this might be our best chance. If all that troop movement is for us, well…”

“We’ll need to be prepared,” Zack agreed. He glanced down at the paper in his hand. “Might be worth reading what information they’ve put out about us before we make a decision.”

Cloud nodded and chewed on his bottom lip as he thought. “If things are still run the same way, then block A to C houses the troops permanently stationed here to protect the port,” Cloud explained. “Other than those, the ones closest to the edge of town are D through F. Might be worth seeing if they really are totally emptied out.”

“Lead the way,” Zack said. His mental map of this place clearly wasn’t as detailed as Cloud’s. And no way was he so much as turning on his PHS when they were this close to their destination.

Not without a very good reason, anyway.

* * *

Cloud cautiously pushed the door to his old dorm room open. He didn’t relax until he’d examined each bunk and assured himself the place really was cleaned out.

“We’re good,” he said over his shoulder as he walked over to the bunk he’d occupied for almost four months and dropped the bag of supplies next to it. Their packs were already growing concerningly light, but they were so close now.

“You’ve been here before, huh?” Zack commented as he closed the door behind him. He took his time looking around the room before sitting down on one of the beds. “Your second home?”

Cloud glanced up from where he’d flopped down. “Uh, yeah, they deployed me here for a bit when they were sick of me getting, well, sick. It was a semi-permanent assignment, so I didn’t have to move around for a while. But then my lateral movement application was finally endorsed, and I was shipped back to Midgar to support Soldier assignments. Obviously there’s no way I was going to say no to that.”

Zack nodded slightly. “Another step closer to the dream, huh?”

Cloud grunted in agreement. “I always thought the mako would somehow stop me from getting sick.”

“Instead it only made it worse,” Zack muttered as he unfolded the newspaper. Cloud guessed he was referring to the state of the toilet back in the mansion.

Zack frowned at something on the front page. He flipped through a few more pages and started reading. After a moment he snorted in amusement.

“They didn’t even publish our mugshots!” he exclaimed as he scanned through the rest of the article. “Just told people to keep their distance if they encounter Soldiers acting strangely. Like they don’t all act strangely,” he added under his breath.

“Maybe it’s not just about us? What about all the Genesis and Angeal copies that could still be out there?”

The mention of his mentor seemed to sober Zack up. Cloud made a note not to do so if he could avoid it.

“Right, yeah,” he mumbled as he put the paper aside. “Not to mention the real Genesis.”

“The military might have been given different information though, right?”

Zack nodded. “Wouldn’t some of them recognise you from working with you, anyway? We’ve got to be careful around here, especially.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Thanks to the design of the stupid helmets, he’d have to assume all of the infantry stationed here might recognise him. He wouldn’t know anyone’s identity until they said something.

“They don’t usually bother monitoring unused dorms,” Cloud added. “We should be all right here until morning as long as we keep the lights out and the noise down. You should sleep, I’ve been hogging all the resting time lately.”

Zack made a soft sound of amusement. “I wasn’t exactly planning to have a dorm party or anything. But all right, wake me up in about four hours and we can switch. If we can hitchhike with someone in the early morning traffic, we might be outside Midgar within the day.”

Cloud nodded in agreement. As Zack put his things aside and hunkered down, he prepared to stay on guard over a long night.

Zack needed to rest, and he had no intention of interrupting it.

* * *

Cloud still had the heels of his hands pressed into his eyes when Zack stirred. Somehow he wasn’t surprised Zack had naturally woken up exactly three minutes before reveille.

Zack groaned and looked around. “What time is it?”

“We should wait until the morning meals and formations are done before we go,” Cloud replied.

Before Zack could try and clarify, reveille blared out of the speakers the fire alarms were hooked up to. Cloud futilely covered his ears. Thankfully it didn’t last too long.

“Thought you were going to wake me up in the middle of the night,” Zack mumbled. “Now I feel like shit.” He fumbled for his backpack.

“You needed the rest more than I did,” Cloud insisted. “As soon as we get to Midgar, you’re not touching another one of those potions for at least a week.”

“Yes, dear,” Zack mocked before downing one of the mixtures. But judging from the shape of the bottle, it was less potent than the ones he’d been using over the past few days. “Let’s just worry about getting there first.”

There wasn’t any activity in their block of the barracks, but the one near the entrance went nuts for the first several hours of the morning. Once it had finally calmed down, they made their way to the gates in the hope they’d be able to catch a lift with someone who was driving to Midgar.

But it seemed most of the traders and private vehicles going that far had already left. They managed to find one person who had pulled over near the gate to refuel that was willing to take them part of the way for free.

“Better than nothing?” Zack asked Cloud.

“Better than being stuck here for another night,” he agreed quietly.

“Sure, you can jump in the back, then,” the woman said as she gestured at the tray of her ute. “Might get a bit dusty, but I’m sure you’ll be fine. I’ve got to keep my stock in the back seats.”

“No problem!” Zack agreed, and leaped onto the back of the vehicle. The woman started a little at the show of strength and agility, but didn’t question them. She’d probably assumed they were trained fighters looking to make a buck in the city.

She took them a couple of hours away from Junon and dumped them outside the small homestead that seemed to be her destination. Zack thanked her profusely again, making her wave her hand. But she seemed fond rather than impatient.

Cloud still didn’t understand how Zack managed to flirt with every woman he saw, nor why so many of them responded positively to him. He wondered what Aerith thought of it.

They followed the fence line of the farm for a long time before reaching the open plains again. Cloud looked back before it was totally out of sight. He wondered what the life of someone working the land was like.

“Hey, watch out!” Zack exclaimed as he suddenly yanked Cloud over to his side. A Kalm Fang dived past them, then turned around with a growl.

Cloud wondered whether he should bother fumbling in his pack for the tonfa. Zack would probably have dealt with it by the time he undid the zip.

But Zack seemed to have other ideas. He pressed a materia into Cloud’s hand, though his eyes didn’t leave their assailant. “Try it,” he said. “I’m curious now.”

Cloud closed the materia in his fist, getting a sense of heat and warmth. It was obviously fire-related, but it didn’t feel like anything he’d been allowed to handle before. He took a moment to feel for the limits of the materia and compare it against his own magic ability. The sheer power within it was much more than he was used to.

He focused his spell on the Fang, but didn’t have time to be surprised by the rush of power that left him. Searing flames engulfed the monster, and the overpowering heat exploded out all the way to where they were standing. Cloud waited for the energy drain to hit him, but it never came. The rush from using his power was revitalising enough to make up for it.

Cloud glanced at Zack when it was clear the danger was over. Zack was staring at him with an intense look. His eyes seemed to be glowing more than usual, and his breathing sounded uneven.

“Are you all right?” Cloud asked, though he couldn’t imagine why he wouldn’t be.

Zack seemed to come to his senses. “Y-yeah, just surprised.” He turned away quickly, bending over his pack to dig around for the bracer. “Here, let’s get you set up with this before we go any further. We might need it.”

Cloud let him set up the kit as he pleased. It was Zack’s equipment, after all. And currently, he had no idea what his strengths were, let alone how to optimise them.

When the armour was handed over he noticed the fire had been changed out for lightning. He supposed that could be aimed more precisely.

Friendly fire wasn’t an option when he was doing that much damage.


	7. Chapter 7

Zack had to admit sleeping rough in the middle of a wide open plain wasn’t the most appealing of things. He didn’t expect them to stop for the whole night again, but even a Soldier’s feet got sore.

Throughout the day they’d seen more and more evidence of the troops setting up. They were walking away from the main road from Junon to Midgar, of course, but they could still easily hear the large amount of traffic moving in the same direction.

“It’d be better if we went around them, right?” Zack said quietly from where he was laying on his back. He should have bought a tent when they had the chance, but the small square of tarp he’d found folded into the bottom of his pack would have to do for now. “It’ll take longer, but they don’t have enough troops to secure the entire perimeter of the city. They can’t.”

“Yeah,” Cloud agreed. “If they’re setting up, do you think they know where we are already?”

“Not in any detail,” Zack replied thoughtfully. “If they did, they would have ambushed us by now. That’d be better for them than lying in wait, I think.”

“What if they’re just waiting for us to go to sleep?”

“They’re going to be waiting for a long time.”

Zack let his eyes fall shut, but his thoughts continued racing. There had to be a way for them to avoid a fight. Even if he did have an incredibly powerful ally now, there was no guarantee they’d survive the assault. And he’d rather not cut down hundreds of infantrymen on his way out.

Well, if he’d even have time to get at them. Cloud would probably blast anything within three hundred metres into oblivion if Zack let him. His mind returned to the shiver that had passed through him when he’d felt Cloud’s power.

He was familiar with the way stress really made it feel like the mako was pumping through his veins. But that had to have been more than just the usual battle excitement. Was it related to what they had done to Cloud? Or was it more about what they had done to him?

But Zack knew that now wasn’t the time to dwell on the what and why. No matter what had been done to them, they needed a plan to survive what was coming. If only they had a little more intel on the situation.

His mind wandered to the text he remembered seeing in his inbox after playing around with his PHS and getting it back into working order in the mansion. Kunsel must have tried to reach out to him soon after he’d been trapped in the tank and pronounced KIA. Kunsel’s offer of assistance had seemed sincere, and he’d always had a way of knowing everything about everything.

But was it really worth the risk? Zack had no way of knowing where the Soldier’s loyalties really lay, or even if he was still employed by the company.

Zack glanced over at Cloud, who had his eyes closed but clearly wasn’t sleeping. A call like that wouldn’t just be a risk to his own hide. But the alternative wasn’t exactly appealing either.

And he couldn’t leave Aerith hanging like that. Not after what she’d already been through.

Cloud opened his eyes and returned his gaze. “What?”

“You mind if I phone a friend?” Zack asked, trying to sound jovial.

“Who?” Cloud rolled onto his side and reached into his pocket for his PHS.

“A Soldier named Kunsel. He might be able to help us. Maybe,” Zack muttered. “I mean, he offered to years ago.”

“Oh, Kunsel? I think he sent me a message last time I turned this thing on. You probably got one too,” Cloud said as he looked down at the blank screen. “Are you sure he’s trustworthy?”

“Of course not,” Zack replied. “But if there’s a way for us to avoid this fight…”

Cloud was silent for a moment, and then he nodded. “I think we should do it. What does it matter if they find out our exact location at this point?”

“Right,” Zack agreed, glad a decision had been made.

Cloud stood up, and once Zack had moved away he started folding up the tarp. Zack turned his phone on, and flinched as a mountain of notifications came through. He’d already had over a hundred unread messages, but word about them seemed to be getting around.

He navigated to Kunsel, and skim read the new message he’d been sent. It seemed he was still working for Shinra, though apparently it was to maintain his information ring rather than out of any sense of loyalty. Zack bet he’d done the smart thing and continued to refuse a promotion to first.

Zack brought the phone to his ear as he waited for the call to connect. When it rang through to Kunsel’s message bank, he hung up and glanced back at Cloud. He tilted his head questioningly, bangs shifting slightly.

“He didn’t pick up,” Zack began to explain, but was cut off by his phone vibrating. “Never mind,” he said as he read the caller ID and answered. “It’s Zack,” he said, hoping this wasn’t some kind of setup.

“I knew it! I fucking knew it!” Kunsel exclaimed. Zack jumped and held the phone further away from his ear. “I’ve been trying to solve the mystery of where you two disappeared to for nearly five years now,” Kunsel added, now sounding much more like the man Zack had known. “Strife is with you, right?”

“Yeah, we both escaped,” Zack confirmed. “We were in the basement of that mansion in Nibelheim.”

“Fuck, are you serious?” Kunsel exclaimed again. “I was going to get someone to check that out years ago!”

Zack heard a loud thumping in the background of the call, and a muffled voice yelling something.

“Shut it Luxiere, you useless lump!” Kunsel called back, voice becoming distant for a moment. He probably thought putting his hand over the phone was enough to block out his yelling.

“Are you ok, man?” Zack asked nervously. He’d never heard Kunsel lose his chill over anything before.

Kunsel snorted, but his voice returned to a more normal volume. Zack just hoped it’d stay there. “I know about the message he sent you. Back stabbing, brown nosing…”

“Kunsel, focus. We’re not home free yet,” Zack reminded, finding some amusement in being the level headed one between them for once. But he quickly sobered when he remembered the purpose of his call. “What can you tell me about the formation of troops getting ready to greet us outside Midgar?”

“You’re that close already?” Kunsel asked. “I guess two in the morning is the perfect time to fight infantry, but still.”

“Oh right, sorry for waking you,” Zack mumbled. It hadn’t occurred to him that there were still people out there living normal lives.

“Don’t be stupid,” Kunsel replied, and Zack heard the clacking of a keyboard. “They’re expecting you to come from the south, so most of the units are stationed there,” Kunsel explained. “From what I can glean, they’re planning to transport the rest to wherever you do pop up from in land and air transports. There’s a few copters keeping an eye out for you.”

“Let me guess, they’re all crowded around Sector 5?”

“Yeah, of course. And you’ve got us here in the Shinra building in the north,” Kunsel said. “You might be better off circling around to the west, and entering somewhere between Sector 6 and 7. If your intention is to get back to Aerith as soon as possible, that is. Otherwise, coming through the east side might be more of a surprise to them.”

Zack chewed his lip and tried to figure out where they were now. “I think we’re much closer to the west side at the moment. We’re not following the main road from Junon,” he explained.

“I can meet you there,” Kunsel said quietly, now cognizant of the risk of being overheard, it seemed. “You’ll both be able to get over the wall, right?”

Zack snorted. At this point it wouldn’t surprise him to see Cloud walk right through it without flinching.

“Yeah, but there’s no need for you to risk your position and show that you’re associated with us.”

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Kunsel assured.

“Why?” Zack sincerely had no idea. He and Kunsel had been friends and peers for a long time, but they’d never been super close.

“This company is going crazy,” Kunsel said quietly. “You’re the only one who still has any principles.”

Kunsel had always been a little jaded about Shinra, but clearly things had only gotten worse. He remembered Kunsel had always been a little envious of how often Zack was assigned with Angeal. That had to have something to do with why he’d joined. And why he’d stayed.

“All right, we’re heading for the west side,” Zack said, not wanting to dwell on Angeal now of all times. “Probably won’t get there until the sun comes up, so see you in the morning.”

“Go well.”

Zack lowered his phone as he turned to Cloud, who was still staring at him wide-eyed. He must have been able to hear both sides of the conversation.

“Well, let’s stop procrastinating. Time to get this over with,” Zack announced.

He looked down at his PHS again and sent one last message.

_We’re coming, baby_.

He smirked to himself, knowing she hated that particular pet name.

Cloud followed his lead, and they continued their trek around to the part of the plate they needed. It took hours for the city to become visible in the distance, but once it was, Zack knew his assumption about their location had been roughly correct.

At about half past five he received a message.

_TMI!_

Zack choked back his surprised laughter. Of course Aerith would find a ridiculous way to misinterpret his message. Cloud glanced over at him, concerned.

“Um, just Aerith saying she’s going to meet us there too,” Zack translated. Cloud clearly didn’t believe him, but he didn’t try to interrogate him further.

_It’ll be your turn when I get there_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aerith: -ten eggplant emojis-
> 
> And Kunsel is best underdeveloped side character, don’t change my mind


	8. Chapter 8

Tseng stared at the monitor in front of him. People had been busying themselves around him at all hours of the day, kitting the meeting room out with tech to turn it into an incident response centre. He wasn’t amused.

It was becoming hard to justify ignoring the instant tracking notifications that came up on the screen every time Zack used his phone to call someone.

Tseng pressed the speed dial button for Reno and Rude on his conference phone. They picked up almost right away.

“What’s up, boss?” Reno answered casually. He’d be enjoying the opportunity to slack off, Tseng was sure.

“The target’s location has been ascertained.”

Tseng heard a sudden creak of leather. He guessed Reno had sat up straight in the parked helicopter’s seat.

“ _How_?”

Tseng gave a heavy sigh. “He called someone with his company issued device.”

Reno spluttered. “That dumb motherfucker!”

Even Rude grunted in surprise.

“Indeed,” Tseng replied evenly as he brought a hand up to the bridge of his nose and squeezed. “I can only assume he was under the impression that it was worth the risk. But he’s right outside of Midgar.”

“Hm. Is blondie with him?”

“I see no reason why that wouldn’t be the case. The boy doesn’t have a family to return to, and their survival would be more probable if they fought together.”

“So… we actually have to get to work now?”

Tseng turned his focus to the ceiling and folded his arms tightly. He wanted to say no. But what were they going to do with a pair of rogue experiments even if they did agree to be airlifted away? Delivering them to Hojo’s proximity could only be a worse fate.

“Try reasoning with them first. It’ll be cheaper for the company if this can be resolved without violence.”

“Yeah, all right,” Reno replied dismissively.

They weren’t the best negotiators on the team. But then, it’d probably be better in the long run if they didn’t succeed. Tseng trusted them to take care of themselves.

And he trusted Zack to not hurt them too much.

* * *

The only bad thing about the sun coming up was that the light of dawn made it harder to see the infantry camps. Without the speckle of lights on the dark horizon, Zack had to trust his sense of direction to guide them all the way around to their planned entry point. They’d need to avoid the sudden drop of the cliff face to the south, as well.

“There it is!” Zack exclaimed as the divot in the wall that lined up with the gap between Sector 6 and 7 became visible. They were still several kilometres away, but having their goal in sight was nice.

He turned back to see Cloud’s reaction, since he wasn’t usually loud when it came to these things. But Cloud was too busy staring in the direction they’d come from. A moment later, the helicopter blades entered Zack’s hearing range too.

“Are you fucking serious?” he muttered.

Cloud tensed up beside him, eyes fixed on the approaching object. “What do we do?” he asked, voice tight.

“Nowhere to hide, and too far to run,” Zack replied as he swung the canvas bag he’d been carrying the sword in off his back. He knew the brim of his cap was going to get in the way, so he turned it around.

“You look ridiculous,” Cloud murmured.

Zack could hear the fear in his voice. But the fact he was trying to make a joke at a time like this told Zack he was beginning to rub off on him.

“Wow, thanks,” Zack replied as he unzipped the bag and pulled out the buster sword. “Could really use your help right now,” he added under his breath as he held the sword at the ready, hands not quite able to find comfort in the grip.

The corner of his mouth twitched, but didn’t quite make it into a smile. Angeal had better have meant what he’d said about his life being a little more important than keeping the sword in perfect condition.

He wouldn’t be using the blunt side today.

Cloud tilted his head, and looked at the sword with wide eyes. It was hard not to notice that they weren’t exactly blue anymore. The mako glow was something that wouldn’t fade over time.

“You mean Angeal?” Cloud tried to clarify.

Zack tilted his head, and the errant lock of hair that protested against being slicked back even more than the rest of the wayward strands fell in his face. “You know, you could probably make it into the city before the reinforcements show up. I can hold off whoever is in that thing.”

“After everything you’ve done for me? I don’t think so.”

Cloud adjusted the bracer on his arm and Zack watched as the orbs of materia seemed to glow a little brighter. His raw power shifted through the air, making the hair stand up on the back of Zack’s neck. He swallowed as his heart and breathing sped up in response.

Of course he was attracted to power. He wouldn’t have gone through the gruelling procedure to become a Soldier, otherwise. But this reaction had to be more than just that. It was almost like he had a ‘fight time’ button, and Cloud was the one pushing it.

The helicopter paused to hover in place before it reached them, though the gun turret attached to the front of it didn’t move. A voice came over a loudspeaker.

“Put the weapons down and we’ll give you a ride into the city,” one of the Turks, presumably, drawled.

Zack frowned, sure that he’d heard the voice somewhere before. Maybe he was just imagining things. Either way, a Turk wasn’t exactly a trustworthy source of information.

He gripped his sword tighter and opened his stance. He’d need to move fast to get up there and try to cut it down before it shot him down.

He glanced at Cloud as the tingling around them only grew. “Do you think they’ve sent for reinforcements yet?” Cloud asked without looking at him.

“Yeah, probably the second they saw us,” Zack replied quietly.

Cloud nodded, and suddenly the build-up of energy rushed outward. Blinding bolts of lightning struck the helicopter right through the centre of its blades. In a normal storm it probably wouldn’t have done much, but the energy and intent behind the magic couldn’t be ignored.

The blades separated from the body of the helicopter, making it drop like a stone. Before it spun into the ground, two men in dark suits bailed out one side. The red head landed first, letting the stick in his hand touch the ground before either of their feet could. It discharged a strange arc of light.

Lightning had to be this guy’s shtick.

Zack took a step closer, but Cloud had already shot forward. He didn’t bother with the tonfa this time, simply striking with his fists. He went for the bald guy first. To his credit he did manage to bring his arms up to protect his face before the hit landed, but Zack was sure no one’s bones were meant to bend like that.

Somehow, the bald guy wasn’t screaming when he hit the ground. But his partner in crime wasn’t nearly as stoic.

“First you steal my thing, and then you fuck my partner up? Now it’s personal, bitch!” the other one yelled hoarsely. His nightstick was buzzing with electricity by the time he dived at Cloud.

Zack ran forward, more worried about the Turks than he was about Cloud, now. What if they had been telling the truth? That’d mean the only reason they were here was because Tseng had sent them. To help him?

“Hey! You don’t actually have to kill them!” Zack yelled, knowing he’d be too slow to interfere physically.

He couldn’t tell whether his words had gotten through or not, but Cloud this time struck the redhead in the stomach. It seemed the worst he’d have to deal with was being knocked on his ass, and probably some bruising later. At the break in the fighting, Cloud glanced back at Zack.

Zack came to a halt next to him and swallowed when he saw the way Cloud’s eyes had brightened with the mako glow. If Shinra were dumb enough to make someone so strong a berserker, he didn’t know what he was going to do. But Cloud seemed willing to listen to him, and not intent on attacking him, so he had a chance to try and defuse the situation.

“Come on, they’ve been disabled for now. Let’s get out of here before someone else shows up.”

The red head on the ground wheezed and tried to sit up. Cloud had clearly winded him, but his determination to speak seemed to win over his physical limitations.

“Won’t forget… this… Slick!”

Zack straightened, and suddenly he remembered exactly where he’d seen this these two before. “Oh! It’s um, Rude, right?”

His offended wheeze told him he had it the wrong way round. But Zack didn’t have time to worry about apologising when there were footsteps running up behind them. He turned sharply, bringing his sword up once again.

He felt a bolt of concern when he saw the second class Soldier uniform, but it soon dissipated when a whirl of pink shot past him. He glanced between Aerith and the man who was presumably Kunsel, though it was hard to tell under the helmet. Kunsel brought a finger to his lips, and suddenly it was obvious why he needed to leave it on.

Zack nodded at him gratefully before turning his attention to Aerith. She was kneeling beside Rude, seemingly focused on healing the broken bones before any permanent damage could be done. He noticed Cloud was staring at her too, probably in the middle of realising who she was.

“Aerith,” Zack said as he lowered the sword and walked over to her. He’d have sheathed it, but he didn’t have that part of his armour on at the moment. He stopped a short way behind her.

She didn’t look back right away, which gave him time to notice the pink ribbon she was wearing in her hair. An uncomfortable feeling made its way into his throat. He was happy she still had his gift, of course. But the fact she’d held onto it so closely for over four years had to say something about the pain she’d been through.

Aerith glanced back him with a serious expression. Her eyes softened before she turned her attention back to her patient. “You look ridiculous,” she said mildly.

Zack gave an exaggerated sigh and put his free hand on his hip. “What have I gotten myself into?” He glanced at Cloud, who was still staring at Aerith. “That’s what he said!”

Cloud finally seemed to return to the land of the living. He took half a step back when Zack pointed at him insistently.

“Then it must be true,” Aerith teased, though her tone lacked some of its usual light.

“Don’t heal him too much,” Zack said, returning his focus to the problem at hand. “We’ll be back at square one, otherwise. We need to get out of here.”

Aerith shifted uncomfortably, clearly not happy with the situation. Rude looked away from them, the grimace still painted across his face.

“Come on, he’ll be fine now.”

“But…”

Kunsel approached them with his phone pressed under his helmet awkwardly so it’d be near his ear. He stabbed his thumb in the direction of the city wall. Zack guessed forces outside the Turks had now been made aware of their location.

“Time’s up!” Zack insisted as he bent over to try and encourage her to stand.

Aerith didn’t look impressed, but they really did need to get out of there now. He picked her up and put her over his shoulder.

“Hey!” Aerith complained, but Zack was already on his way back over to the wall. It sounded like Cloud was following them, thankfully. Kunsel looked between the two Turks before joining their retreat.

Aerith didn’t continue struggling for long. But Zack could feel her moving around still, possibly trying to find a way to look dignified in this position.

“So, you must be Cloud, huh?” Aerith asked conversationally as she finally settled on pushing against Zack’s back so she could look up.

Cloud grunted in agreement, presumably nodding at her.

“Save it,” Zack said, squeezing the back of one of her thighs slightly. “You need to hang on now.”

“Oh, the wall?” Aerith asked. She locked her arms around his middle, probably literally putting on a brave face.

Zack was impressed, given how timid she’d been about so many things when they’d first met. He didn’t like the fact he’d missed so much, but he was glad to know she’d been able to grow and focus on other things in the interceding years.

Aerith squeaked when his foot his the wall and they started running vertically upward. He wrapped his arm around her legs more securely while the other held the sword well away from all three of them.

Still, nearly five years was way too long for someone to sit around and wait in uncertainty. If he’d been killed back then, at least Aerith would have known his fate for sure and been able to start getting over it. But being stuck in suspended animation had been far crueller to her than it ever would be to him.

Zack would just have to start making it up to her as soon as they were safely inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zack with a hat on backward, and Cloud with one on normally… all I can see is Pokemon trainers...
> 
> And the “It’s nothing personal, _bitch_ ” line sent me the first time I heard it, if you couldn’t tell!


	9. Chapter 9

Cloud watched Zack put Aerith back on the ground as he leapt down off the wall after them. He touched her so carefully, and there was an obvious level of familiarity between them with the way his hand travelled over her backside as she dropped down.

As soon as both of Aerith’s feet were on the ground she grabbed the front of his shirt and tugged him down to look into his eyes. Zack smiled sadly and said something to her. She stood on her toes so their lips could press together.

Cloud landed near them, but they didn’t look around, too enraptured in each other. He guessed he couldn’t really blame them, but right inside the wall probably wasn’t the place for their reunion make out.

“You can suck face later,” Kunsel said as he landed as well.

It seemed he’d had the foresight to bring their packs over the wall. Cloud took them off his hands gratefully. They were hardly full of supplies anymore, but some of Zack’s combat equipment had ended up in them. And having Soldier uniforms might come in handy again some time.

Aerith held up a finger and continued the kiss for a few seconds before pulling away. “Do not. I’ve being waiting for this for almost five years,” she said primly, as though Kunsel was the one being inappropriate.

Zack squeezed her closer for a second before turning to face them as well. Kunsel’s head circled to one side, and Cloud guessed he was rolling his eyes under the helmet.

“I’ve organised for you two to stay with a cell of Avalanche in Sector 7 for a few days,” Kunsel explained quickly, gesturing for them to follow him into the back streets, under the cover of some rusting tin roofing. “I don’t know what you want to do, Aerith?”

Somehow she managed to press herself into Zack’s side even further. Both of them almost tripped over when they started walking.

“Right, that’s what I thought,” Kunsel said quietly, amusement audible. “I guess we’ll see what they managed to scrounge up for accommodation and figure it out from there.”

They continued on down the streets quietly, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. Cloud took the opportunity to take in their surroundings. He’d never spent much time in the slums, even if he had been based in or around Midgar for most of his career.

Apparently there was a red-light district in this sector, but he’d never had much interest in that sort of thing. A lot of the other guys his age had come down here because they knew no one would bother asking for ID as long as they had money to spend. But he’d ignored sating his curiosity in favour of avoiding the noise and crowds.

It occurred to him that he’d technically be twenty-one soon. He still didn’t quite believe the date on his phone whenever he looked at it, but now he knew it had to be true. Coming of age didn’t mean much in Midgar, but his twentieth birthday would have been considered important back home. If he hadn’t come to the city, he’d be training to support the town in a more traditional way.

Cloud reached up to scratch his nose, but his footsteps faltered when he smelled the blood he’d forgotten was on his knuckles. If he hadn’t come to the city, he would never have been able to do _that_. But then what? He would have died four years ago when Sephiroth went mad instead?

He shivered at the thought of his old idol. It brought back a sense of terror this time. He couldn’t breathe. The heat of the fire. Metal ringing against metal. A woman screaming…

“Cloud? Are you ok?” Zack asked from where he was now standing in front of him. “Are you going to be sick again?”

Cloud glanced between him, Aerith, and Kunsel, who had paused up ahead. His eyes returned Aerith once again. He relaxed. If Aerith was all right, then everything was all right.

He frowned, unable to work out where that thought had come from. He didn’t even know Aerith. It didn’t make any sense, and that worried him.

“Come on,” Zack said, loud as ever as he turned around and bent his knees. He patted his lower back with his free hand then stuck his arm out straight. “If you’re going to keep spacing out, then I’ll carry you there. We don’t have time for this now, ok?”

“Your very own chocobo,” Aerith teased, patting Zack on the head now that she could reach a little more easily.

“Don’t make me wark at you,” Zack threatened mildly.

“We really don’t need to draw that kind of attention to ourselves,” Kunsel said, a hint of actual worry hiding beneath his dry tone. There had to be a story there.

“You shouldn’t touch me, I could hurt you too,” Cloud muttered as he held his hands up and took half a step back.

Zack rolled his eyes before backing up and awkwardly forcing Cloud up. “Does this mean I can annoy you as much as I want and you won’t hit me?” he joked as he jostled him into place with one hand and started walking forward again.

Cloud made a soft sound of annoyance and gave up on struggling before he’d even really started trying. Aerith giggled and followed along beside them.

“What a cute pout,” she teased.

Cloud sighed and turned away, probably failing to hide the flash of embarrassment at her comment. “I thought it was bad when there was only one of you,” he muttered, bouncing one of his heels off the front of Zack’s thigh.

“Oh no, my femur will never be the same again,” Zack mocked.

“That’s enough, children,” Kunsel commented over his shoulder and came to halt on the street corner. “Don’t you have something you need to pick up here, Aerith?”

She nodded and hurried to catch up with him. She took the lid off one of the bins on the corner and pulled out a small suitcase and a basket.

“We didn’t know how long we’d be. Thought it would be better to hide it,” she explained sheepishly. “I’ve got something I want to give you, Zack.”

Of course Zack immediately jogged over. Cloud didn’t know whether he should risk holding on tighter or gladly accept falling off. But before he knew it, Zack had come to a halt and it was too late to follow through on either of his musings.

Cloud looked down and saw the whole basket was filled with what looked like freshly cut flowers. They were all the same yellow colour. Aerith held one up in Zack’s face.

“Uh, don’t think I should take it in my teeth,” Zack said. He turned his head to the side and leaned in. “Here?”

Aerith smiled and pushed the flower’s stalk behind his ear. “Gorgeous,” she said, bringing her hands up to cup his face. She gave his cheeks a light smack and dropped her hands again. “Do you want one too?” she quickly asked Cloud before Zack could react.

Cloud looked away. “Not really.”

“What’s wrong? Worried I’ll still be prettier than you even if you had one too?” Zack teased, jostling him slightly.

“Yes, top of my concerns right now.”

“Come on,” Kunsel interrupted again, sounding less patient this time. “You can mess around once you’re all safely inside the hidey-hole.”

“S-sorry,” Aerith mumbled before turning away to follow him. She held the basket in the crook of one elbow and her suitcase in her other hand.

Kunsel shrugged. “The gate to Sector 7 is just down here. Apparently someone is going to meet you there.”

Cloud still wasn’t sure whether they could rely on that someone being from Avalanche. Or even if they could, he didn’t know what they might really want to do with a few ex-employees.

“You can put me down now,” Cloud said.

Zack didn’t argue. He seemed to have come to the same conclusion. Neither of them wanted to end up in a lab again.

Cloud landed lightly, mind already shifting to plan for a few different scenarios. Hitting with magic first again would probably be their best bet. He automatically felt out the materia he had, reminding himself of what was available to him.

All three of the others looked back at him at the same time. Zack’s hands had closed into fists, and his shoulders had stiffened. “Can you not?”

“What?”

Aerith brought a hand up to her mouth. “You’re really uh, flipping his switch, Cloud.”

Cloud glanced back at Zack, mostly confused but also under the impression he should be embarrassed. Zack brought a hand to his forehead.

“What she means is, I’m affected when you show your real power. Basically, every time you prepare to use magic. So don’t think about casting until it’s time to do it.”

“What do you mean by affected?” Cloud asked, concerned now.

Zack shifted uncomfortably, adjusting his grip on the buster sword. “Just, my body starts freaking out and getting ready for a hard fight,” he muttered.

“Oh, is that what the kids are calling it these days?” Aerith said under her breath as she turned back to follow Kunsel the rest of the way down the street. The playground was in sight now.

Zack seemed to physically flinch at her teasing before coming up with a retort of his own. “I guess we basically haven’t changed at all over the past four years. So, huh, I guess compared to us you’re basically an old woman now,” Zack mocked. “Ancient, even.”

Aerith spun around on the spot. “Zack, that was awful. _Awful_.”

Cloud felt like he was missing some of the context behind the joke. It didn’t seem to just be about her age, anyway.

Before things could devolve into another bout of teasing, Kunsel came to a halt at the edge of the park. Cloud looked ahead through the playground equipment to see someone really was waiting by the gate. Kunsel looked down at his phone.

“Looks like the young lady is going to show you the way. I’d rather not show myself in Sector 7, or be seen in your company by anyone else.” Kunsel paused before adding. “No offence.”

Zack transferred the sword to his left hand so he and Kunsel could shake casually. “Thanks for getting us this far. I mean it.”

Kunsel returned the gesture and tilted his head. “What would you do without me?” he teased.

“Die, probably,” Zack replied, too serious. They both shifted uncomfortably as they separated again.

“Call anytime,” he insisted. “Just don’t use that thing again. I can try to fix it up so it won’t track you another time, but it might be easier just to get a new one when you can afford it. Speaking of, Avalanche will probably only be able to feed and house you for a few days.”

“That’s fine. I can put these two to work while I sleep off the last few weeks.”

Aerith laughed softly. “Thank you, Kunsel,” she added. Cloud nodded as well, though he got the impression they were thanking him for much more than just what he’d done today.

“Oh stop, you’re going to embarrass me,” Kunsel replied. “Good luck out there,” he added before turning away and heading back the way they had come.

Once he was gone, they turned their attention back to the gate. “Well, let’s go meet our new friend,” Zack said quietly.

The three of them crossed the relatively open area with some apprehension. The woman was quick to notice their approach, but she didn’t move very far from where she was standing. Cloud slowed as her features became more visible.

Tifa looked almost nothing like he remembered. Except for her eyes, still wary after everything that had happened in the reactor, and possibly since then.

Tifa seemed to recognise him only a moment later, and inhaled sharply. She strode over to them and took hold of his upper arms as she tried to get a better look at his face under the hat.

“Cloud?”

“Tifa,” he replied evenly. He’d been so worried about his mother after waking up that he hadn’t even thought to wonder. “I’m sorry,” he blurted as the old shame and guilt over broken promises rushed back.

Well used to his awkwardness, she simply pulled him into a hug. “Don’t,” she insisted. “I’m just glad you’re alive.” She stepped back when he didn’t return the gesture, but she didn’t seem overly upset. They’d never been what most people would call friends, but she’d known him long enough to know what to expect.

“No, I mean it. I made a promise, and I…”

Tifa shook her head and put her hands on her hips. “Forget it. If you’re really still angsting over that, then it wasn’t fair for me to put that on you in the first place. I’ve been training to get stronger too.”

Cloud realised she’d noticed the changes in his stature even underneath the baggy overalls and long sleeved shirt. Her outfit certainly made no attempt to disguise who she had become. She had to have some pride in whatever skill and strength she had built over the years. But he couldn’t exactly apply those feelings to what had been done to him.

“Yeah, get it girl!” Zack commented as he closed his free hand in a tight fist.

Tifa glanced at him sharply. “Oh, you survived as well?” She didn’t sound particularly pleased.

“Hey, what’d I do?” Zack demanded, but Aerith jumped in first.

“I’m Aerith, by the way! Zack and Cloud’s friend,” she added when Tifa’s steady gaze turned to her.

“Oh yeah, we’re just friends,” Zack said sarcastically.

“You know what I meant!”

Tifa glanced at Cloud and raised an eyebrow. She did look amused.

Cloud folded his arms and gave an exaggerated sigh. “I don’t know them. Let’s just go.”

Tifa gave a surprised laugh, seemingly shocked that he had managed to develop a sense of humour. “Right, well, the accommodation isn’t exactly glamorous,” she began to explain as she made her way back over to the gate.

Cloud followed her and felt a bit of the tension in his gut ease. At least something in the world was still normal.


	10. Chapter 10

Aerith struggled a little to keep up with Tifa as she led them through Sector 7. Zack gestured for her to give him her suitcase, but she ignored the offer. She’d packed light enough that she’d be able to carry it easily. The shape was just a little unwieldy.

And Zack already looked unwieldy enough with his sword off his back.

Tifa gestured at something to her right, only slowing down slightly. Zack made a sound of amusement behind her as he looked up at the sign over the large wooden building.

“This is where I work. As a bar tender,” she explained briefly. “I’ve only had a few hours of sleep since I finished up last night, actually. But if you need me I’ll probably be in there.”

“You like the name? I came up with it!” Zack called.

Tifa glanced back, but didn’t seem to be very impressed. Aerith glanced at Zack questioningly. Did Tifa honestly not like him at all, or did he just remind her of something bad?

She didn’t get a chance to ask, though, as the whirlwind tour immediately continued onto a small apartment complex. Tifa climbed the stairs two at a time.

“We thought there were only two of you, so the room is going to be cramped. But Marle said you’re welcome here for the next two nights, and she’s happy to discuss further arrangements tomorrow.” She stopped in front of the first door on the landing. “I live here. Don’t wake me up before nine,” she added, though Aerith wasn’t sure if it was a joke.

Tifa moved along to the next door. “This is where you’ll be staying,” she said as she opened it up. But she remained outside. “As you can see, there’s only a single bed in the room. I do have an awful and uncomfortable bed roll that you can borrow, but even with that I don’t know if there’s enough room.”

Cloud looked back at Zack. He seemed to be deep in thought.

“Well, Zack was the one who led my sorry butt all the way here. He’s probably going to pass out as soon as he touches the mattress. Would you mind if I slept in your room just for today? Until you have to go back to work?”

Aerith guessed he was trying to give them some private time, as well as be practical. She’d have to thank him later.

Tifa glanced at Zack too, and some of her initial hostility faded. She nodded. “That’s probably a better idea, actually. Are you ok with that, Aerith?”

She nodded and smiled. “It’s fine. I’m well rested, unlike these two. I’ve been down here in Sector 5 for the last few years, so...”

“Oh, ok then. Let’s do that,” Tifa agreed.

Aerith noticed Cloud hesitate for a moment. He looked between the two of them with a little uncertainty in his eyes. Aerith thought she could understand his hesitation.

She didn’t want to let Zack out of her sight for a long time yet, either.

“He’ll still be there when you get up later,” she said quietly. “By the way, Tifa, are you interested in decorating the bar with flowers? I guess I don’t need to pelt Zack with all of these.”

She’d brought them along to try and sell if they really needed it, but they wouldn’t last long in the dark apartment anyway.

“Oh? They are real,” Tifa said quietly as she came back over to inspect the basket more closely. A smile played around her lips at the sight of them.

“Yep!” Aerith confirmed as she held one up for Tifa to take.

“We have a big event on tonight, these would be perfect! Are you sure it’s ok?”

Aerith smiled at her enthusiasm. “Of course! I want to see them be put to good use too.”

Tifa glanced between Aerith and Zack again. “Ok, thank you! Half of those should be enough for the job. I’ll put them in water now, just a second,” Tifa said as she hurried into her own room.

“You don’t have to pay for them,” Aerith tried to explain, but she was already gone. It didn’t take long for her to return, though.

Tifa tucked something small into the edge of the basket before carefully removing a handful of flowers and putting them in the glass of water she’d brought back out. “Thanks!” Tifa said enthusiastically before turning back into her room. “Come on Cloud, I’ll get that bedroll set up.”

Cloud nodded at them awkwardly before following Tifa inside and closing the door behind him. Aerith followed Zack into the other apartment and did the same. She could hear Tifa’s muffled voice, but the words weren’t discernible.

Aerith put her case down next to the door and looked into her now half-empty basket. She pulled out the small object and inspected it. Her face flushed when she realised what it was.

“What’s up with you?” Zack asked from where he was kneeling by the bed, putting his sword down under it.

She walked over and put the flowers on the bedside table. “This was Tifa’s ‘payment’,” she said quietly, holding the condom package up for him to look at.

Zack started with surprise. “Guess she doesn’t hate my guts as much as I thought.”

“What is her problem with you, anyway?” Aerith asked softly.

Zack scratched the back of his head and looked away. “I’m not totally sure, but there’s a few possibilities. My affiliation with Shinra and Soldier at the time. Maybe the fact I didn’t say anything about Cloud being in town earlier, even though I didn’t realise she was trying to ask after him. Or some combination of that and my presence during the worst day of her life.”

She still didn’t quite understand what he was talking about, but it sounded like a sensitive topic that might be better to discuss at a less stressful time. “Complicated, huh?” Aerith asked.

Zack nodded. He glanced at the condom again.

“Maybe this was more for my benefit than yours,” she teased.

He smirked at her and stood up swiftly. He took a gentle hold of her upper arms and swung her around so her back was pressed into the wall.

“What, you think you’re the only one who’ll get something out of this?” he asked as he planted his hands against the wall on either side of her. She was always forgetting how tall he was, but it was hard not to notice when he was leering down at her like this.

Aerith laid a hand in the middle of his chest and looked away. He backed off and bent his knees so he was looking up at her instead. He looked apologetic.

“Too much too soon? I’m still getting my head around how long it’s been…”

Aerith shook her head. “No, it’s just, we shouldn’t do it that way. I haven’t been taking birth control the last few years because…” She paused, but he waited patiently for her to continue. “Well, I think it was making my depression symptoms worse.”

She didn’t want to rely on a condom on its own when she knew she was ovulating, anyway. Back then they had eventually stopped bothering with them. Right after she’d started believing him when he said she was the only one he was ever intimate with.

Zack stood up straight again and tilted his head. “Depression?”

She folded her arms, a little uncomfortable about discussing it. Even if it was just Zack.

“Carrying that constant low level of anxiety around everywhere isn’t good for you,” she said as though she was talking about someone else’s problem. “The healthy thing to do would have been to try and move on years ago, right?”

Zack shifted uncomfortably. She didn’t blame him for what had happened, but she knew he’d pin it on himself anyway.

“I know this is selfish, but I’m glad you didn’t,” he admitted. “Is it ok if I think of this as another chance? I’ll do better this time. No more disappearing to go on missions.”

Aerith smiled sadly. “Well, even if you do, you’re not going without me next time. I’ve been practicing.”

Zack nodded decisively. “So I saw.”

“One time I beat up a monster with a metal pipe until it ran away,” Aerith added so he’d get the idea that she hadn’t just been practicing healing. And maybe she was bragging.

Just a little bit.

“Yikes, better watch my back,” Zack teased. She smacked his chest and he laughed quietly. “You’ve come a long way from being scared of the sky, huh?”

Aerith looked away, feeling shy this time. “I like to think so.” Saying she’d started braving the plate above to see the sky because it reminded her of his eyes was probably a little too corny. “I want to take you back to Sector 5 one day. I’ve been working hard to change things in the area for a long time.”

“We’ll go when their alert level dies down a bit,” Zack agreed. “Operation ‘slum full of flowers’ is going well, then?”

She giggled. “And so is ‘wallet full of money’. Sometimes I go up to the plate and hang around the train platform all the Shinra executives use to get home late at night. Their wives basically expect flowers for birthdays and anniversaries now.”

Zack sniggered. “How much you charging them?”

“Up to 500 gil for a bunch if they seem really desperate,” she admitted.

“You little scam artist!” Zack exclaimed, but he looked delighted.

“Shh,” Aerith reminded. Cloud and Tifa were probably trying to get to sleep by now. “I learnt it from the biggest Shinra bootlicker there was at the time,” she replied innocently.

Zack rolled his eyes. “Who have you been talking to from Avalanche, huh?”

Aerith sidled around him. “Sorry, Mister Soldier. You won’t be getting that one out of me so easily,” she teased as she sat down on the bed. She twirled her hair around her finger and smirked up at him.

He sat down next to her and leaned in. “Well, I might not have 500 gil on me right now, but I’m sure there’s something else I can trade,” he murmured as his hand travelled south.

Aerith flushed. She had to admit she’d missed this too.

She cupped his face, needing to be serious for just a moment. “I love you.”

Zack glanced away, still shy about that it seemed. Or perhaps he was hesitant to say it for another reason. She was sure it wasn’t because he didn’t return the feelings at all.

“We’ll see if you’re still saying that when you have to be around me all hours of the day.”

Aerith shook her head. Was he really worried about that?

“I know they say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I can’t take any more of the absence part. I’ll take the risk.”

Zack held her closer and tighter, giving her a sense of his desperation. “I love you, too,” he murmured against her cheek before making her gasp.

Trying to stay quiet was going to be more of a challenge than she’d thought.


	11. Chapter 11

Cloud pretended he’d managed to get some sleep when Tifa got up around midday and started talking about going to the bar. She might not have heard Zack and Aerith earlier, but he may as well have been sitting on the bed next to them.

Every time his thoughts even strayed slightly in that direction, the blood started rushing to his face. He knew his complexion wasn’t doing him any favours in helping to hide the fact.

“You need a hand setting things up for later?” Cloud called out to Tifa, who was getting changed in the bathroom.

“Sure, if you want to. I was just going to put the flowers out and double check what I have in stock,” she replied.

He sat up and pulled the overalls back up before getting out of the lumpy bed. Given all the strange places he’d slept over the past few weeks, it hadn’t been nearly as bad as Tifa had warned.

Tifa emerged from the bathroom a moment later and they made their way over to the bar together. She waved at a few people on their way over, but didn’t stop to chat.

Cloud paused for a moment when they entered the bar. The sun was streaming into the room through high windows, and the polished wooden furniture and floorboards gave the place a homey feel. The arcade machines in the corner almost didn’t fit the atmosphere, but there was something comfortable about being in a quiet cut off space when the streets outside were bustling.

“Let’s see,” Tifa said quietly as she counted out the flowers. “Just enough for five on each table, and one for me,” she said brightly.

She walked behind the bar and flipped a few clean glasses onto it. She filled a jug with water and started distributing it between the glasses.

Cloud wandered over to her and took a seat on one of the stools. Tifa slowed down to create her flower arrangements with a little more care.

“So… What happened to you, anyway? It’s been nearly five years,” she commented quietly, as though speaking any louder would disturb the space around them.

“Zack and I must have been dug out of the reactor by Shinra people at some point,” he replied, trying to recall when they had been separated. Either they hadn’t been interested in Tifa, or someone had rescued her first.

Either way, he didn’t remember anything after falling down the stairs. Or much before it, if he was being honest. Just the pain in his chest, and adrenaline pushing rather than panicking him.

“Next thing I know I’m waking up somewhere in the Shinra mansion with Zack trying to take care of me.” He wanted to keep some of his dignity, so he didn’t go into detail about that. “They must have experimented on both of us in the basement, but I’m still not sure what they did. Normal Soldiers don’t react to their treatment like this.”

They should have looked for their files and grabbed them before leaving. But it was possible the records were all kept digitally now, anyway. Maybe Kunsel could help them with that later.

Tifa leaned forward a little, looking directly into his eyes. What she saw seemed to worry her.

“Wait…” she murmured, hand pausing with a flower halfway to one of the glasses. “How long ago was this?”

Cloud shrugged. “A few weeks, maybe a month ago? I kept falling asleep, so I don’t know exactly how long we’ve been on the road for. Zack probably lost track too.”

Tifa put the flower in place and dropped her hands to the edge of the bar. Cloud thought he heard the wood creak.

“Fucking Shinra, it’s always take, take, take with them. The town, our families, and now your time and…” She didn’t seem to know how to finish that sentence.

Cloud shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t want her to say ‘humanity’. “Not like I ever acted like a normal kid, anyway.” He was sure the loss of part of his life would hit him at some point, but he still didn’t quite believe it had happened at all.

“You know that’s not the point,” Tifa said. Her breathing became unsteady as she started to sob. She wiped a hand over her eyes sharply.

She bent over the bar and laid her forehead against her crossed arms. Cloud wanted to offer her some level of comfort, rather than just stare at her. But he hesitated to reach out. He still didn’t know his own strength yet.

He settled his hand on the bar next to her arms, and let the side of it come into contact with her elbow. “If you’re anything like me, you don’t know whether to be glad you still have something from home or not. I know I’m probably not what you wanted to keep, but here we are.”

Tifa snorted. “D-don’t say that about yourself,” she replied, but he could hear the amusement. She kept her face hidden in her arms. “When did you grow a sense of humour, anyway?”

“I don’t know, some annoying Soldier guy made me,” he deadpanned.

It was true, in a sense. Having Zack as some sort of role model since Modeoheim had reminded him he didn’t have to take himself so seriously. Not everyone was against him.

Tifa wiped a hand across her face again before standing up straight. She sighed. “Do you know what caused all of that back home? Everything seemed normal, until…”

Cloud inclined his head. “I guess that depends how far back you want to go. Hojo creating Sephiroth and lying to him about it? The other Soldier experiments either failing or succeeding far too well, and twisting his concept of himself? Or the existence of… that thing.” For some reason he didn’t even want to say the name.

Tifa shook her head slightly. Clearly none of those had quite been the answer she was looking for. “All the other firsts went mad, right? What makes you so sure Zack won’t?”

“What makes you so sure I won’t?” Cloud asked. Maybe it had already started.

Tifa rested her chin on her fists and looked away. “I’m not,” she admitted quietly. “That’s why I’m worried.”

“I feel like, if he was going to, he would have by now,” Cloud replied.

From what he could tell, loyalty was what had made Zack stick with Shinra until they’d forced him away. And it seemed to be part of why Zack had bothered helping him instead of running when he had the chance. Those few extra days could have done a lot for him.

Cloud didn’t have the same confidence in his own level of resolve.

Tifa nodded slowly and eventually returned to her flower arrangements. “If he’s not going back to Shinra, then I should probably apologise to him at some point, hm?”

Cloud shrugged. “I think he gets why you’re still wary.”

He felt his face heat up again when he remembered Zack’s comment about what had presumably been a condom that Tifa had given them. He probably assumed she’d already apologised.

“What is it?” Tifa asked, having noticed the change this time.

“Nothing,” he said hurriedly.

She leaned forward and narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t you remember what happened last time you had a crush on a Soldier?”

“I didn’t—I _don’t_ ,” Cloud protested.

The other kids had already thought he was weird before they’d started spreading rumours about his preferences around. It was still a sore spot. A scab that had been picked away every time someone in his squad had jokingly called him ‘pretty boy’.

One advantage of being part of the Soldier support unit had been getting that a lot less. He was hardly the most effeminate man on the team.

“Mmhmm,” Tifa murmured, clearly not believing him.

Cloud huffed. “Even if I did, he has a girlfriend. So it doesn’t matter.” He’d seen Zack flirt with plenty of women, but never another man. Evidently he wouldn’t be interested even if it was true.

Tifa picked up two of the glasses that had been turned into vases for the night, but paused before coming out from behind the bar. “I’m just teasing. But, you don’t have to be attached to his side forever, you know? I get that sticking together right now is probably the smartest thing for you two, but you’re allowed to live on your own terms. You’re free from your old life, even if Shinra is still hounding you.”

Free. He wasn’t sure about that one.

* * *

Aerith wasn’t panicking.

Sure, she was stuck under Zack and still half naked. But there was no reason why she couldn’t resolve this before Cloud came back.

She viciously poked Zack in the side once again. “Move! I need to get dressed,” she whispered loudly.

Zack grumbled in his sleep, but finally his grip on her let up and he shifted his weight slightly. Grumbling to herself, Aerith hurried to the bathroom to make herself more presentable again. But only when she came back to the bed did she realise the room still stank of sex.

She reached for the small window, hoping to air things out a little. But it seemed to be set up so it could only open a few centimetres at most. She reached into her bag and pulled out the bottle of perfume Zack had bought on what they now considered to be their first date. Knowing it probably wouldn’t make much difference, she spritzed it around the room.

There was a knock at the door all too soon. Zack was still out of it, and probably would be for a while, so Aerith cautiously went over to answer the door.

Cloud glanced up at her, then stiffened a little. A pinkness rose in his face, and she tried not to laugh. This was going to be awkward no matter what, and she probably shouldn’t make it more so.

“Um, sorry, we are cleaned up now. You can come in if you like,” she began. Zack was covered by the bedding from the waist down, not that he’d probably care either way.

Cloud nodded and stepped inside the doorway. He seemed unwilling to venture any further into the room even after Aerith had closed the door. She assumed he was mustering himself up to say something, so she remained silent.

“Aerith, this might be a strange question. But, what are you?” he blurted.

She was taken aback by his bluntness. And the fact he seemed to have sensed anything unusual about her. “Why do you ask?”

Cloud folded his arms and frowned at the floor. “I don’t know. I just feel weird around you.”

She giggled and moved a bit further into the room. “Aww, I’m flattered.”

“Just answer the question,” he muttered, sounding annoyed this time.

Aerith turned away and clasped her hands behind her back. So he could sound kind of scary when he wanted to. Even if he and Zack were friends, their personalities seemed to have some stark differences.

“I’m just teasing,” she assured. “Do you know about the Ancients?” She glanced back over her shoulder and saw him tilt his head.

“Doesn’t ring a bell,” he said, softer this time.

“Well, essentially they inhabited the planet before humans. As far as I know, I’m the last of them. So that may be what you’re sensing?” She turned back to face him properly this time. “In all seriousness, what do you mean by ‘weird’?”

Cloud’s face turned even redder and he shifted uncomfortably.

“Please be honest. I promise I won’t make fun of you again,” she encouraged. If he’d brought it up despite the awkwardness, it had to be something important.

“There’s no way to put it into words without sounding awkward. Obviously I care about your safety to the extent you’re a friend of a friend, but I have this almost instinctive feeling that I need to protect you. You’re not purposely triggering that or anything, are you?”

Aerith shook her head slowly.

“Then it has to have something to do with whatever they did to me,” he said as he looked down at his hand.

Kunsel had explained some of where they’d been. She guessed Hojo had kept them in Nibelheim instead of bringing them back to Midgar for a reason.

“I know my safety is a concern for Hojo,” she began slowly. “But you must have been considered a failure if he didn’t bring either of you back here sooner.” A curl of worry twisted in her gut. She knew Hojo wanted her to ‘replicate’ too. “Is that the only strange thing you’ve experienced?”

Cloud shrugged and looked away, keeping his arms folded. Maybe she shouldn’t have opened this conversation with teasing after all.

“If it only feels like an imperative because it lines up with the situation, then I can deal with it,” he muttered vaguely. “Anyway, we’ve got to sort out what we’re going to do once we’ve outstayed our welcome here. Are you sure you aren’t better off going back home?”

Aerith accepted the change of subject for now. She could try asking again later, or get Zack to have a go when he woke up.

“They’ll just try to use me to get Zack to come out of hiding if I go back.” Not that she’d leave even if she didn’t have logic backing her up. “It’s better if the three of us stick together for now.”

Cloud nodded, accepting this easily. It seemed he hadn’t been expecting her to go, but she could see how feeding two people was easier than three.

“I have some money, and I’m sure Tifa can help us find work. When it’s safe enough to go back to Sector 5 we’ll be fine. I have contacts there. Until then, we can hide in Wall Market if it gets too hard to hide around here.”

She’d spent a lot of time thinking about this since Zack had called her. It’d be difficult and unpleasant, but staying home wasn’t exactly an option. This was what she’d been waiting for all these years, wasn’t it?

“Ok,” Cloud agreed easily, to her surprise. She’d thought he’d try to insist on some kind of military tactic, or even just on going to the other side of the city.

“Ok,” she echoed, and he gave her a strange look. She laughed and turned away again.

Maybe he was out of his depth too.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kris_Creations made some adorable art from the last few chapters! On [Tumblr](https://kris-creations.tumblr.com/post/618896823436869632/trying-for-a-new-start-clothesbeam-final) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/xgirl109/status/1264125184845312000?s=21)

Kunsel spun slowly on his chair as he stared up at the ceiling of his quarters. Apparently the so-called integrity division was looking into his activities again. He was confident they wouldn’t find anything, but of course he’d stay vigilant. If he ever did need to run, he’d have to do so at the right time.

Not after they’d strung him up.

His phone beeped, and he grabbed it the next time he passed the desk. One of his contacts had flagged some mission details for his attention.

Kunsel brought himself to a halt and sat up straighter, leaning forward as he read the message again. Something big was going to happen in Sector 7 tonight. But thanks to the vague wording, he didn’t know if it was related to Zack or not.

Officially it claimed to be a sting against Avalanche, but he had just left his friends in their hands. He had to find out more.

Kunsel started the convoluted process of sending out an anonymous call for information. Someone in the network had to know whether Avalanche was really up to something tonight, if not the true nature of the operation that was being planned.

He jumped when his work PHS went off with the tone he reserved for Heidegger’s office. Ignoring a direct order would be pushing things way too far.

_Move to meeting point A in Sector 7 immediately. You will be briefed on arrival._

Kunsel looked longingly at his intelligence query before reactivating his hard disk’s encryption, shutting it down, and taking up his sword. He sent the expected reply before pulling on his helmet.

_ACK_

It looked like he was going to be forced to get involved in this one directly, anyway.

* * *

Cloud woke with a start. He had fallen asleep where he’d been sitting in the corner of the room they’d been given. It was dark now, but it sounded like there was a riot going on outside.

His eyes immediately flew to the bed, since that was where he’d seen Aerith last. He couldn’t see much in the darkness, but she seemed to be looking in his general direction. Zack sighed and sat up behind her.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” Aerith whispered.

Cloud crawled over to the door and pressed his ear closer to it. He focused, listening for anyone who might be talking nearby. It didn’t take long to hone in on a nearby voice.

“Get out and keep your hands on your head! If you cooperate, the search will be over much sooner.”

“What are you even hoping to find?” an indignant woman demanded.

“You’ll know if we find them, won’t you,” the man sneered in response.

“This is illegal!” the woman complained, but no one seemed to pay much mind to her concerns.

Cloud opened his eyes again and glanced back in Zack and Aerith’s direction. “I think Shinra infantry are looking for us. People’s homes are being searched.”

“Shit, seriously?” Zack muttered. He climbed over Aerith to get out of bed. “Didn’t even get a chance to wash my damn undies.”

Cloud looked away from him even though he couldn’t see much. Zack was probably still naked.

“Ew,” Aerith muttered as she got up and put her jacket on over her dress. “What are we going to do?”

The banging on one of the doors on the floor below them was loud enough for Aerith to pick up on too. She looked down and brought her fists to her chest.

“Sounds like it’s too late to sneak off. I wonder if we should change clothes again,” Zack commented as he hopped around on the spot, pulling his bottoms up. “Are they looking for two Soldiers, or two slum dwellers?”

Cloud shrugged. “Why would they send them to look for us without telling them about our capabilities? Wouldn’t they need Soldiers to deal with you?”

“And more than that for you,” Zack joked even as he looked around, probably trying to remember where the packs were. “What do you think? Want to pretend to be one for a bit?”

Cloud hesitated. Bluffing had never been his strong suit. But it was clearly something Zack was confident he could do.

“May as well try it,” he replied as he tossed the pack Zack was looking for in his direction.

He pulled the uniform out of his own and turned to face the corner of the room as he hastily got changed. Though the uniform was unfamiliar, military life had taught him efficiency in that area too.

Cloud packed everything away again, then tossed the packs back into one corner of the room so they’d be able to find them in a hurry if needed. He heard a smacking sound behind him and realised Zack was smacking his face lightly.

“Ok, just like going back to work,” he muttered to himself.

“If anyone asks, you’re on undercover assignment because of me,” Aerith said quietly, sounding amused.

“Good idea,” Zack replied as he put the sword on his back and made his way over to the door. “Just play along.”

Before Cloud could ask what that meant, Zack had swung the door open. Illuminated by the dim streetlights outside, Zack looked exactly like the man he remembered pacing up and down the infantry ranks. Cloud had to fight his instinct to stand at attention.

He cautiously followed Zack outside, automatically positioning himself between Aerith and the stairs, or the only route an adversary would have to get up to their level. He ignored how unconsciously he’d done it and turned his attention to what Zack was doing.

Zack walked up to the edge of the balcony and leaned over the railing. “What the hell is going on out here?” he demanded sternly.

One of the infantrymen jumped and pointed his rifle at him. A split second later he seemed to recognise the uniform, and general demeanour, and jumped to attention.

“Following orders from HQ, sir!” he yelled back. “Er, what are you doing here? I know they said Soldiers would be joining this operation, but…” He clearly didn’t recognise Zack, but seemed to be green enough to be willing to believe he was a first.

Zack leaned against the railing casually and pointed a thumb over his shoulder in Aerith’s general direction. “You all have pretty much blown the undercover assignment I’ve been on for the last few years. What, did they forget to keep me in the loop about something?”

“I-I don’t know!” he admitted, still standing even more stiffly, if that was possible.

Cloud would never admit how drawn to Zack’s commanding presence he was, but seeing the unit of infantry that was heading in the direction of the bar was enough to draw him out of it. He stepped forward and pointed in the group’s direction.

“What are they doing?”

The infantryman turned around stiffly. “Raiding the Avalanche event, sir!”

It seemed Zack had suspended this guy’s disbelief enough for him to take Cloud at face value too. But he was more worried about Tifa.

Just as he was about to turn toward the stairs, a second infantryman stepped out from under the balcony. “Who the hell are you talking to?” he demanded, then paused when he looked up and spotted them. The voice clicked in Cloud’s memory a moment later. “Hey, weren’t you two reported killed?”

The first guy elbowed the second. Lachlan, Cloud was pretty sure. “They’re doing undercover work, dumbass!”

Lachlan’s attention was clearly focused on Cloud. He didn’t look that different from when he’d gone through basic, after all. He tried to look imploring from a distance.

Lachlan paused for a little too long. “Oh, right, well don’t go around yelling about it.”

Zack waved a hand nonchalantly and looked over his shoulder at Cloud. “You’d better go supervise the raid on the bar.”

Cloud nodded, happy for an excuse to check on Tifa. She probably wouldn’t pick up the phone if she was working. Zack followed him down the stairs, and Aerith stuck to his side.

They split up at the bottom of the stairs and Cloud jogged to catch up with the body of troopers making a move on the bar. Once he’d caught up with a straggler he called out.

“Hey, whose orders are you following?” he tried to ask as though he had no doubt he’d get an answer. It seemed to work when the guy turned around and paused.

“Uh, officer present!” he called out to the others. They stopped and glanced at each other before following suit. “We were ordered to take a hostage from Seventh Heaven to draw out an extremist cell of Avalanche,” he reported when Cloud continued staring at him expectantly.

“Hostage?” he asked, mind immediately jumping to Tifa.

“Marlene Wallace, four years old,” the man explained quickly.

That wasn’t what he’d been expecting to hear at all. He folded his arms and frowned. He’d have to make a decision quickly.

If he made it look like he’d accomplished their mission, maybe they’d leave the sector and its residents alone. There was no way the three of them were going to be able to stay in this part of town for much longer now, anyway.

“I’ve been working undercover for years,” he said, copying Zack’s story. “The woman who owns the bar trusts me. Let me take care of it alone.”

He walked past them, and they all looked at each other, clearly confused. “Just stay here,” he said, trying to inject some authority into his voice.

“Yes, sir,” the group chorused as they watched him go.

Cloud made his way over to the bar alone. Judging from the noise inside, they weren’t aware of what was happening. Or of what had been about to go down.

Cloud pushed the doors open to see the once peaceful space was now packed wall to wall. The noisy patrons were competing to be heard with the old jukebox. It was all too overwhelming.

Thankfully he spotted Tifa not too far away, carrying four or five pints of beer in each hand. She was leaning over and laughing with one of the people sitting at a nearby table.

He made a beeline for her, sidling through the crowd. She seemed to feel his stare, and glanced up. Her eyes flickered over him and her expression slowly turned to a frown. Of course, she hadn’t exactly been expecting to ever see him in this outfit.

He tilted his head, trying to beckon her over. Tifa put the drinks down on different tables before approaching.

“What’s going on?” she yelled, but Cloud could barely differentiate her voice from the noise around them.

“There’s Shinra infantry out there,” he said. Her fists clenched as she tried to look out the door over his shoulder. “They’re after a girl called Marlene, not us,” he clarified.

Tifa’s eyes widened. “H-how did they even…?” She looked back into the room, but Cloud couldn’t tell who her attention was focused on. “That’s the leader of our cell’s daughter!”

Now it made more sense. “They were going to take her and leave the Sector. I want to pretend to secure her so they’ll leave, then Zack, Aerith and I want to get out of here before they realise where the two random officers came from,” Cloud explained hurriedly.

“I really don’t think Barret will…” Tifa began as she looked back again.

“Even if the plan fails, I’m not really going take her anywhere,” Cloud reminded. “Is she actually here?”

Tifa nodded. “She’s playing in the back room with whoever’s turn it is to look after her,” she replied. “Is this really a good idea?”

“Trust me?”

It hurt a little when Tifa continued to hesitate, but after a moment she nodded. “I’ll go get her, then I’ll try to explain to Barret. I might be able to convince him to not shoot you.”

Tifa was well practiced at moving through the crowd, and she soon disappeared into the sea of people. Surely not all of them were actually related to Avalanche. Maybe the bar had opened back up to the public after the private event.

Cloud backed up to the doorway again so he wasn’t standing in people’s way. A few of the patrons had started glancing in his direction. He didn’t want any hard core group members getting the wrong idea.

Suddenly a little girl popped out from between a couple of people’s legs. She stared up at him as she hesitantly walked over. Cloud looked around for Tifa, but she was over at another table talking to a large man with some kind of prosthetic arm.

“Um, are you Tifa’s friend?” At least, that was what Cloud had to guess she’d asked.

He nodded, but hesitated to move any further. He’d have to carry her just in case he needed to get out of there in a hurry. But he was still concerned about inadvertently damaging other people with his unreal strength.

He knelt down to get on her level. “Yes, I’m Cloud,” he said, feeling awkward. He had no idea how to treat children of any age. But then again, he could barely speak to most adults.

The structured communication in the army had been helpful to him on some levels.

“You need me to help you for a little bit?”

Cloud nodded. “It might be a bit scary, but I’ll keep you safe.”

Fortunately she seemed to have more confidence in him than he did. He opened an arm to her, and she promptly stepped forward to be picked up. He provided his arm to be sat on, but didn’t hold her too tightly. Not that he’d let her fall.

He glanced back at Tifa once more as he straightened up. The man was standing and glaring holes into him now. With his arm raised like that, Cloud could see Tifa’s warning had been quite literal. If he didn’t move he might find himself full of actual holes.

Tifa stood in front of Barret, waving her hands placatingly yet firmly. Cloud turned his attention to the infantrymen who were watching his every move.

“You’re very brave,” Cloud said as he made his way back out of the bar. He signalled for the infantry to clear out, telling them he’d take it from here.

He held his breath during their moment of hesitation, but then they starting beating a retreat. Cloud sighed, but he knew he’d need to disappear from view until everyone really had cleared out.

“I know,” Marlene replied proudly.

“Good, because we’re going to have to play hide and seek for a bit,” Cloud explained as he made his way into a back alley.

“But we don’t really want to be seeked, right?”

That was an apt way of putting it. “Right,” Cloud agreed.


	13. Chapter 13

Zack watched Cloud jog off, and tried to convince himself he’d be fine. He had both his smarts and his physical enhancements now. Cloud wasn’t the one he should be worried about.

Zack turned his attention back to the two infantrymen, who didn’t seem to be sure whether they should continue with their assigned search or wait for new orders. “So what are you guys looking for, anyway?” he asked as a few more men exited the floor below the apartments and joined their group.

The chatty one glanced back at the old woman standing under the veranda in a dressing gown with her arms firmly crossed. It seemed they didn’t want to say anything in front of people outside the company.

“Sorry about that, ma’am. You can go back inside. I’ll make sure they don’t bother you again.”

The woman gave Zack a shrewd look. He wondered if she was the landlady they were technically mooching off. She’d probably already worked out who they were after seeing them come down the stairs.

She turned away and headed back inside without another word. Zack was almost certain she had her ear pressed against the door, though.

Finally, one of the infantrymen leaned in. “We’re looking for a girl, the daughter of one of Avalanche’s more extreme leaders. Apparently they’re planning a raid on one of the—” He was cut off when the guy next to him stomped on his foot.

Zack raised a hand. “Right, if I need to know, then it’s not up to you guys to brief me,” he said, not bothering to lower the volume of his own voice. “The leader’s daughter, huh?”

The guy that had seemed to recognise them before glanced over his shoulder at the door. It was like he didn’t know what to do about the situation, but Zack didn’t want to push it by trying to get them to reveal more confidential information.

He jumped slightly when his PHS started ringing. He quickly took it out of his pocket and checked the caller ID. It was Kunsel, but he didn’t know if answering it here was a good idea. Then again, it wasn’t like they were going to hang around for much longer.

“Finally, someone remembered I exist,” Zack muttered. “Hello?”

It was hard to hear anything over the powerful motorbike engine and rushing wind, but he managed to make out Kunsel’s voice. “What’s going on down there? I’ve just been deployed.”

“Huh, so you’re the one they’ve been waiting for,” Zack said quietly, then remembered he couldn’t speak freely. “We’re working to secure the target, then moving back out.”

Kunsel didn’t feel the need to ask why he was being so vague. “You need to get out of there. If I’m being called in, it has to be for more than a simple hostage retrieval. They might be trying to get me to look for you guys on the DL among all the chaos.”

Searching people’s houses certainly wasn’t making Shinra more popular. “Got it,” Zack replied briefly.

When Kunsel hung up he lowered the PHS from his ear. He glanced down at the screen and saw he had a message from Cloud.

_Meeting point?_

“You guys are going to be ordered to pull out soon,” Zack invented, “so don’t bother searching any more houses. The main target will be secured by the other group, and we’ll be looking for… some others.”

It was hard to read their expressions when he could only see their mouths, but the guy who had recognised them seemed to want to say something about that. In the end, he didn’t. Zack guessed the identity of the ‘escaped experiments’ still wasn’t widely known even among Shinra people. Someone other than Kunsel would put it together soon, though.

The leader of the infantry unit brought his radio up to his face when it started emitting static. “Target located in Seventh Heaven and secured. Next move, over?” a voice said.

Zack tried not to look surprised by the news. It seemed he’d been lucky enough to make up the right excuse again.

Another voice came over the radio. “Understood. All units pull back to HQ. The escort is to report to the Soldier floor with the hostage. Over.”

“Uh, the operative with the hostage has already split from the group. But he is a Soldier, so I’m sure that’s the first place he’ll go,” the first guy said.

Zack looked at Aerith until she turned her attention to him. He mouthed ‘our stuff’ at her and glanced up at where he knew their apartment was. She nodded and casually walked away before hurrying up the stairs.

It sounded like they were going to figure things out sooner or later, and he didn’t want to be here when they did.

“Soldier? Who?”

“A first class I haven’t seen before.”

Zack glanced up when the door above him snapped shut, and followed Aerith’s footsteps with his eyes. “I’ll make sure the message gets passed on when we regroup,” Zack said as he turned away to meet Aerith at the bottom of the stairs and take the packs.

“Um,” one of the men began, but Zack didn’t turn around. He needed to answer Cloud. They didn’t have time for this, what with the discussion going on over the radio.

Once he and Aerith were out of their sight, they began to run. Zack wasn’t sure where they were going, but it was away from the apartment and the bar, so it’d do for now.

“Cloud wants to know where to meet us. What should I say?” Zack asked.

“The playground outside the Sector 7 gates,” she said decisively.

Zack smiled. “At least one of us came prepared with an escape route.”

“Of course,” Aerith said with a breathy laugh, but she seemed to be getting a little winded already.

They moved off the main street and Zack slowed to a walk. He texted back quickly.

Even if the message was intercepted, he assumed Aerith had somewhere for them to go after that. They should probably avoid splitting up in the future, though.

* * *

By the time Cloud made it to the gate, it had already closed for the night. He brought his other hand to Marlene’s back before running at the wall and leaping over it. Marlene gasped and wound her small fists into his shirt.

He probably should have given her some warning first.

When they landed she cautiously looked around. “You want to hide in the secret tunnel? You can get in from that side too, you know,” she said, pointing back at the gate.

“Secret tunnel?” Cloud asked. Maybe that was what Zack and/or Aerith had in mind, but they hadn’t had a chance to explain that yet. “Where?”

Marlene pointed at one of the low plastic domes near the gate. “Under there.”

Cloud looked around, but didn’t see anyone. He put Marlene down. “Show me.”

She obligingly trotted over, and Cloud followed along. He hoped Zack and Aerith were just on their way still, and hadn’t been held up.

“Here,” Marlene said as she dropped down and crawled under it. Cloud knelt down and saw the dome was covering a hole in the ground with a ladder in it. Marlene was heading straight for it.

“Hey, wait up,” he said hurriedly. He didn’t think Tifa would approve of letting a four-year-old climb down an adult-sized ladder alone. And he certainly didn’t want to know what Barret would think of it.

He slid along the ground on his elbows and knees. Thankfully Marlene did wait for him, though she was a little close to the gaping hole for comfort. He got on the ladder and climbed down until his chest was level with the ground, so Marlene could climb onto his arm again. He braced his feet on either side of the ladder and slid down.

Marlene whooped with glee. She grinned up at him with bright eyes.

“Shhh!” Cloud reminded, though it was hard not to smile at her enthusiasm. It seemed she was more adventurous than he’d thought.

When they landed, he looked up and down the underground tunnel and decided it was safe enough to let her down again. She started down the pathway, and Cloud took long strides to keep up.

“So, you’ve been down here before?”

Marlene nodded. “Yep, Daddy told me to hide here if bad things happen.”

Cloud came to a halt and looked back toward where they had come in. Someone was walking around up there. But he soon relaxed when he recognised Zack’s voice.

“Maybe he already went down there?”

“I’ll check,” Aerith replied.

“Is someone there?” Marlene whispered, loud in comparison. She’d climbed onto a rickety old bench a little further down the tunnel.

“It’s ok, they’re my friends,” Cloud replied as he settled next to her.

“You can hear real good,” Marlene commented as she sat up on her knees, as if trying to get a better look at him.

Cloud nodded. “All Soldiers do,” he said, knowing that would be far simpler to say than going into the gory details of what had happened to him. “They’re all like that. You should stay away from other people who dress like this.”

Most of the firsts didn’t bother with the uniform, but he doubted anyone that high ranking would be sent after a four-year-old.

“Then why are you and Tifa friends?”

Cloud shrugged. “We’ve known each other since we were children. I changed my mind about Shinra, and so did she.”

“Oh, Cloud!” Aerith exclaimed from the base of the ladder. She waved at him.

Cloud raised a hand just as Zack slid down the ladder much in the same way he had. Except he was also trying to balance all their equipment on one arm.

“Show off,” Aerith teased him before walking over.

“But that man is your friend too, right?” Marlene murmured out the corner of her mouth.

“Yeah, he’s the same as me.”

Aerith hurried over. She looked relieved to see him, but she was quickly distracted by Marlene’s presence.

“Hello there, how did you end up down here?” Aerith asked as she knelt down to be at eyelevel with her.

“Cloud needed my help,” Marlene bragged.

“Oh really? How lucky for him that you were there,” Aerith said, happily playing along with her version of events.

Zack dumped their various bags on the ground before leaning against the rocky wall next to them. “She’s the daughter?” he asked Cloud quietly while they continued to talk.

Cloud nodded.

“You’re supposed to be returning to the Soldier floor with her,” Zack scolded jokingly.

“Too bad I don’t have access.”

Zack laughed and ruffled his hair with his hand. Cloud flinched at the unexpected move and half-heartedly batted his hand away.

“Still, we’re going to have to return you to your family at some point, aren’t we?” Zack said, shooting a grin at Marlene this time.

“Once the troops have pulled out,” Cloud added. “I know at least some of Avalanche know where this place is, so it should be as good as any to wait around in.”

“Then budge up, I want to sit down too,” Zack said.

Cloud complied, and Aerith sat Marlene on her lap to make more room. They continued talking quietly while Cloud zoned out. Zack carefully adjusted the sword before taking a seat.

“You can go to sleep if you want,” Zack commented after a few moments. “Aerith and I hogged the bed all day and all night, after all.”

Cloud folded his arms and tilted his head back. Now he was even more uncomfortable.

Zack smiled at him and patted his shoulder. “Come on, I’m not that uncomfy.”

Cloud rolled his eyes, but leaned to the side anyway. “Too bad the pauldron is,” he muttered. Zack made a sound of amusement before ruffling his hair again. “I knew this was a trap.”

“You didn’t think it would be free, did you?” Zack teased. His hand softened, and stroked through his hair instead.

Cloud folded his arms a little tighter before sighing and relaxing. He wasn’t going to deign that with a real response.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t lean in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this is already 30k words. Also, it's now officially my most subscribed fic ever :o  
> (Also also, I am trying to write Marlene like a four-year-old but… Let’s just say she’s very articulate!)


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a transitional chapter, so I feel like I should clarify that the end game of this fic is Cloud/Aerith/Zack. The focus of the intimacy may shift in this part, but it’ll be all three of them by the end, so don’t worry!

Zack tried to ignore Aerith’s knowing smirk. At least with Marlene there, she couldn’t say anything too shocking.

He was glad for the distraction of a phone going off quietly. He checked his pocket, but soon realised it wasn’t his. Cloud stirred slightly and reached for his own.

“Tifa?” he murmured, clearly still waking up. He nearly jumped off the bench when loud, angry voice replied.

“WHERE’S MY BABY!?”

“Daddy?” Marlene murmured as she stirred, otherwise unfazed. Cloud grunted and gave her his phone. Aerith turned on speaker as Marlene repeated the question.

“Baby girl! Where are you? Daddy is coming to pick you up!”

“Under the playground,” she replied. “Tifa’s friends are nice.”

“They’d better be,” the man muttered darkly before returning to his dad voice. “I’m only a few minutes away. Stay on the phone, ok?”

Cloud got up and stretched as the man continued asking his daughter endless questions about her safety. Zack rolled his shoulders out and stood up as well. When their eyes met, Cloud glanced away quickly.

Zack didn’t know how to address things without making them more awkward, so he waited silently for the moment. Cloud shrugged one of the packs onto his back, then rubbed his forehead. It seemed his body wasn’t very happy about getting up at three in the morning again, even if he should be used to this kind of thing by now.

It didn’t take too long for heavy footstep to come from above. The giant of a man almost fell down the ladder in his haste, but Tifa was a little more graceful. She stopped behind him and raised a hand to her mouth, clearly amused.

“See? She’s fine, Barret.”

“Marlene!” he exclaimed, opening his arms as he barrelled forward.

Marlene slid off Aerith’s lap and trotted in his direction. If this was what she dealt with on a regular basis, it was no wonder she was fairly fearless.

“Daddy!” she exclaimed happily, right before she was picked up and hugged close.

“Aww, so sweet,” Tifa said as she patted the middle of the large man’s back. “But we should move it before someone decides to come back.”

“Are you all right?” Barret asked, ignoring her for the moment.

Marlene nodded. “Everything went fine! Thanks to my help!”

Zack made a sound of amusement, immediately attracting Barret’s narrowed eyes. He coughed and looked away.

“Yeah, thanks, Marlene,” Cloud said, apparently attempting to be the peace maker once again. Zack just hoped things turned out better than they had with his mother.

“That’s ok!”

Barret nodded, apparently in approval, before turning on Tifa. “Never do that again,” he muttered before walking back over to the ladder.

Tifa put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. It seemed she was used to his attitude. She approached Cloud.

“So, what are you all going to do now?”

Aerith stepped forward to join the conversation. “It might be better if we don’t share the details,” she said. “We won’t be too far away from Sector 7, though.”

Tifa nodded. “Makes sense. I don’t want to be pressured by anyone into divulging your location.”

“Same goes the other way,” Cloud murmured. “If you’re going to get involved in anything big, just be careful.”

Tifa tilted her head. “So you managed to get some intel on us off of them? All of this is going to delay our plans for a long time, anyway,” she said quietly.

Cloud nodded. “Just be careful, anyway. Call me if you need anything.”

Tifa smiled. “Good luck,” she said, waving as she turned away. Her eyes met Zack’s, and she gave him a small wave as well.

He raised a hand and gave her a sideways smile. It looked like they were getting somewhere with repairing their relationship.

Once everyone was gone, Zack and Cloud ferried their things back up the ladder. They each took hold of their respective bag again. He’d be glad when they had a semi-permanent residence again.

“So, where to next?” Zack asked as they followed Aerith further into Sector 6.

“Wall Market!” she exclaimed, pointing into the distance where it was still dark enough to see some of the lights.

It made sense, of course. People were much more likely to kick up a fuss over being searched, if Shinra was dumb enough to even plan an operation there. He just didn’t think Aerith would ever be comfortable in a place like that.

“Oh yeah? Then what?”

She raised a finger, then frowned. “Well, I can pay for us to stay somewhere for at least a few days. We’ll need to figure out how to make money while we’re there,” she admitted.

Zack sighed dramatically. “Well, if I have to sell my body to make ends meet, I guess I…”

“Zack!” Aerith cut him off as she smacked his upper arm.

“If you want to sell something, you generally have to be able to find someone that’s willing to buy first,” Cloud commented in his usual monotone.

“What? Are you trying to say I’m ugly?” Zack demanded, pushing him teasingly.

Cloud tutted and put his hands in his pockets as he looked away. Surprised it wasn’t a blatant ‘yes’, Zack felt a smile pull across his face.

“Oh fine then, we’ll just get Aerith to lure people into dark alleys so we can mug them,” Zack said lightly.

“No, we won’t!” Aerith protested.

Zack continued to entertain them by making increasingly outlandish suggestions. He liked to think it was what kept them awake until they finally arrived.

The streets were still packed when they did, though things were winding down a little. Shops and stalls were closing, while people were dragging themselves back to their accommodation to sleep the morning away.

Zack let Aerith lead the way. She was the one who had done her research beforehand and was therefore less likely to accidentally drag them into a brothel or something.

The hotel they managed to get a room at was clearly meant for those on a budget, but they had some level of privacy at least. There were two single beds and a cramped bathroom attached.

“Not bad for 250 gil!” Zack exclaimed as he flopped down on one of the beds.

Aerith seemed a lot less impressed. “Let’s just figure out a way to make money tomorrow. Who knows what went on in here before we arrived? Dibs first shower and bath.”

Zack couldn’t smell anything too bad. But he didn’t want to concentrate and find something that was going to ruin his night, either. He nodded when she looked up from getting her bathroom bag and pyjamas out of her suitcase.

The door closed behind her and he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. Cloud stepped past him through the remaining narrow space. He put his bag down and sat heavily on the other bed.

“Now all we have to do is manage to stay here for more than twenty-four hours,” Zack joked.

Cloud made a sound of agreement as he removed his boots. He gave his socks a pained look. “We should get some laundry done while we can, too.”

“Might be better just to get new clothes altogether. Especially underwear,” Zack mused. “Wonder if there’s a guide or anything?”

He opened the drawers in the bedside table and was entirely unsurprised to see the box of condoms and clearly previously used tube of lube. He carefully pulled out some of the leaflets sitting under them.

Cloud leaned over to look in the drawer as well and wrinkled his nose. “Are you sure you want to touch that?”

“Nope!”

Zack looked over the flier that advertised some of the nearby amenities. Naturally it was full of the red-light stuff he’d been expecting, but there was actually useful stuff in there too.

“Oh good, there are actually normal clothes shops around here,” he commented before his eyes landed on the word ‘coliseum’. It was being advertised as a gambling opportunity, but that wasn’t why Zack was interested. “Maybe there’s a way for us to thrive here after all.”

Cloud tilted his head with interest when he realised Zack was actually being serious this time.

“Looks like they started doing underground fights here. Even if they don’t pay the fighters, we could try betting on ourselves to win?”

“We should check it out tomorrow and see what we’d be in for,” Cloud said cautiously. “I dunno if I should fight other people, but if they catch monsters or something…”

“Hmm, we could get Aerith to come along and fix them up if they need it. Though if you tried, I’m sure you’d be equally powerful in that area of magic too. That’s normally how it works, right?”

As a Soldier his magic ability had been boosted above average, but he’d always relied on the power of his materia to get by in that area. He suspected Cloud and Aerith would be able to do amazing things even with the simple stuff.

“I’d rather not do the damage in the first place,” Cloud muttered. He glanced into the drawer again. “No matter how despicable some of the people there may or may not be.”

Zack shifted and leaned a little closer. The room was so cramped that their knees were nearly touching.

“I think you have more control than you realise. Obviously you need to be careful, but you don’t need to be afraid of how strong you are.” Acting on autopilot, he affectionately squeezed Cloud’s knee.

Cloud drew back a little, but he seemed pleased. It was no secret that being strong was something he’d always wanted, and he seemed to like having it acknowledged by someone like Zack.

“I don’t know about that,” he replied quietly. He glanced down at Zack’s hand again, and this time he noticed Cloud’s face was turning pink.

Zack didn’t know how to feel about Cloud’s apparent signal of interest. He already knew he wasn’t exactly straight, but he’d never seriously considered getting in a relationship with another guy before, despite Aerith’s teasing. Zack withdrew his hand.

“Well, only one way to get better at working out your own limits,” Zack said hurriedly.

The bathroom door opened and Aerith stepped out dressed in a nightgown. She was still drying off her long hair. Cloud immediately stood up.

“I’ll go next,” he said quickly.

“Right.”

Aerith stepped aside so he could enter the bathroom. She glanced between them, then turned to raise an eyebrow at Zack. He didn’t say anything. The walls were extremely thin here.

She approached him and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. She leaned down to whisper in his ear.

“I told you already, it’s ok. Take advantage of the fact you won’t be judged for it here.”

Zack stared up her incredulously, but she just turned away to continue drying her hair. He looked back down and realised he had one hand gripped in the other. He tried to relax.

Knowing that he had her support made him feel weak, in a strange way. He wouldn’t take it for granted.

“I love you,” he said quietly. No matter what did or didn’t happen, that wouldn’t change.

“I know,” Aerith teased lightly as she ran the brush through her longer strands.

He smiled. “Good.”


	15. Chapter 15

Cloud had an odd feeling, almost like he’d been holding his breath for most of the day. But so far no one had so much as given their group a second glance.

They had managed to expand their wardrobes, do some laundry, and even order something to eat without being interrupted. By the time they headed out to check on the fighting arena situation, he was starting to feel slightly less paranoid.

Cloud wandered around the lobby with Zack and Aerith following at a slight distance. The three of them were geared up for battle, just in case. Though he was more interested in looking at the fixtures before making a decision about whether to participate. Zack had protested against Aerith joining them, but she’d been… insistent.

He paused in front of a noticeboard and found what he’d been looking for. The fixture showed a list of one off matches, some of which didn’t have the second fighting party filled in yet. Based on the team names, he could only assume there was a combination of people and captured monsters fighting tonight.

“There you go, a few things for you to fight too!” Zack commented as he patted his back.

Cloud folded his arms. That was another thing. Zack had been even more touchy feely than usual during the day. Cloud wasn’t sure what to do about it, but ignoring it didn’t seem to be helping.

“Looks like you can’t join, though. You’ll have to put the bet in as a spectator or people will accuse the other party of throwing the match for our mutual benefit,” Zack added as he turned to Aerith.

She put her hands on her hips and puffed up her cheeks. “What am I going to do if you both get smeared because you forget Soldiers need healing too? It’ll be right back to Hojo for me! So let me help too!”

“You _are_ helping,” Zack argued. “Besides, you don’t even have this legendary pipe I’ve heard so much about on you,” he teased. “You’re can’t just run around the edge of the ring casting.”

“Why not?” she muttered, but she seemed to realise she wasn’t going to convince him this time. “Getting me a weapon had better be a priority expense then, hadn’t it?”

“We could all probably use some upgrades,” Zack conceded. Though Cloud doubted he was talking about replacing the sword.

“First we have to win and get paid,” Cloud interrupted. “You can argue about the rest later.”

Aerith glanced at him, clearly still unamused. “Ok, I’ll go find the bookies,” she agreed reluctantly. “But be careful! And don’t lose!”

“Yes ma’am,” Zack drawled as he shot off a lazy salute.

Cloud raised his hand and pointed out one of the materia set in his bracer. “I took a cure too, so don’t worry.”

“And that’s all you’re going to be using tonight if we want to take full advantage of the other people making bets not knowing anything about us,” Zack added as he led them over to the sign in table for the fighters.

“Right,” Cloud replied as he glanced back in Aerith’s direction.

She was looking back at them, too. She gave him a small smile before turning away.

* * *

Aerith looked pleased again by the time they were all sitting down for dinner at the clearly Wutai-inspired izakaya. They were in a booth toward the back of the room. That and the dim lighting made Cloud feel better about being out in public still.

The crowd had been appreciative of their performance, even if they had only been fighting monsters that he could have taken down before the enhancements. They were wary of attracting too much attention, though, so they had called it quits after a couple of matches.

Cloud glanced up when Zack returned to the table with some clean glasses and water. He was surprised when Zack moved to sit next to him instead of Aerith.

“I can’t believe that went so well!” Aerith exclaimed as she picked up one of the menus. “We’ve already tripled our money!”

“Of course! No one else would have bet for newbies like us. We’ll probably only get away with it for so long before other people start catching on, though.” Zack propped his forearm up on the back of the booth seat as he reached over for another one of the menus. “But for now, all I want to think about is eating real food!”

Cloud leaned forward to look at the menu when Zack put it down on the table in front of them. He was hungry, but he didn’t have any particular preference for what they ate.

Aerith sighed. “It’s been so long since we’ve done anything like this.”

Zack reached forward and took hold of her hand. They shared a sad smile.

“Well, at least you’re not mooching off your Soldier boyfriend’s wages when we go out anymore,” he teased after a few moments.

Aerith huffed indignantly but only pulled him in closer. “My, how the tables have turned.”

“Oh, so you won’t let me sell my body _that_ way, but you’re more than happy to pimp out my fighting skills?”

“At least this way I’m not at risk of getting some kind of disease,” Aerith commented lightly.

Cloud raised a hand to his forehead and looked away from them. It was always awkward being the third wheel, especially when the other two started getting… explicit. Unfortunately Zack seemed to think the solution to his discomfort was to go for his hair again.

Cloud saw it coming, and could have easily moved out the way in time. But for some reason he didn’t.

In the end he let Zack and Aerith order the food and drinks. Thankfully the starters and rice came out almost immediately. He’d been subsisting on the road for far too long.

“Mmm!” Aerith hummed as she chewed on one of the pieces of gyoza. “Say what you want about Wall Market, the food is awesome!”

“No way a restaurant would survive inside these walls otherwise,” Zack commented.

Cloud noticed the way he pushed his second piece of gyoza toward Aerith instead of eating it himself. He guessed it had always been a favourite of hers.

Even Zack ended up being too busy stuffing his face to talk much, so despite the generous portions they’d ordered, it all disappeared quickly. But not quickly enough for Cloud to fail to notice the way Zack’s leg was pressing against his the whole time.

He really was going to have to be the one to say something about all this, wasn’t he?

Aerith put her chopsticks down and brought a hand to her mouth as she yawned. “That was too good, now all I want to do is sleep.”

“I’m still buzzed from fighting,” Zack admitted. Cloud nodded in agreement, though he wouldn’t say no to extra time in bed either.

That had turned into a luxury since their escape.

“Well, you two can do whatever you want. I’ll be sleeping, then scouting out a better hotel for us to stay in come morning. You know, a place that actually gets cleaned between each lot of customers!”

“And you call me the bougie? Honestly,” Zack teased. But he stood up anyway so they could go over to the counter and pay. “What do you say we ditch this old woman and go find some dessert?” Zack asked while they were waiting in line.

Aerith sent her elbow back into his arm before stepping forward to cover the bill. Cloud couldn’t deny his sweet tooth after living on the road for so long.

“Is that ok with you?” he asked Aerith as they headed back out onto the noisy and crowded street.

“Yeah, sure, have fun!” she said sincerely. She gave Zack some money before heading back down the street to the hotel.

Zack kept an eye on her until she’d gone inside the building safely. He turned back to Cloud with a wide smile and bright eyes.

“So, you want something cold, warm, or neutral?” he asked. He seemed excited for some reason. Maybe he missed sugar too.

The weather was perfectly mild, so Cloud shrugged. “Neutral?”

“Ok! Come with me,” Zack said as he took hold of Cloud’s hand and barged into the middle of the crowd. Cloud had to hurry to keep up or risk being dragged along the ground, but it didn’t take them long to reach the stall Zack apparently had in mind.

“You’ve been here before?”

“Hmm, a long time ago,” Zack admitted. “You know what some of the other guys in infantry are like about these places.”

It sounded like Zack had last been here at an age he really shouldn’t have been. Cloud just shrugged. “Sure, but I hate crowds even more than I hate being ridiculed.”

Zack nodded as though he’d been expecting him to say as much. “So, you want some of these crepes?”

Cloud turned his attention to the menu board above the little cart. “Uh, sure,” he replied, not wanting to get dragged through the crowds again to whatever Zack’s other ideas had been.

Soon enough he had a strawberry and cream dessert cone pressed into his hand. He looked around for somewhere to sit down, but the few tables by the stall were already full of people.

“Come on,” Zack said as he turned toward one of the buildings. When he was close enough he jumped up onto it, making a group of drunk people behind them squeal in fright. Cloud followed before they could comment on it, landing on the roofing tiles carefully.

Zack grinned at him again before scaling the next part of the building to get onto the roof of the section that went up a few more floors. No one else could get up here without a ladder, so they wouldn’t have to worry about having their night interrupted. The noise wasn’t reduced by the distance very much, but it was better than being in the midst of everything.

Zack sat on the roof and patted the spot beside him. Cloud joined him, and Zack quickly closed the gap he’d left between them. Cloud looked down at the dessert in his hand while he tried to think of what to say. Even Aerith had been ignoring Zack’s behaviour earlier. Unless, it was actually just innocent.

“You ok?” Zack asked before biting into his food, eyes not leaving him.

Cloud looked away and shifted slightly. The view of the bustling, lit up town was nice from here. But he knew Zack would wait as long as it took to get an answer out of him.

“I should be asking you that, shouldn’t I?”

Zack looked caught out, and actually seemed embarrassed. “I just… I was trying to let you know I…” He tapped a finger against his knee and frowned. “I mean, it’s fine if you’re not. Maybe I misread the situation or something but I didn’t want to make you feel intimidated or pressured or anything,” Zack began, releasing the tirade of word vomit that usually appeared when he was nervous.

But something had finally ticked over in the back of Cloud’s mind. “Was this supposed to be a date?”

“ _Supposed_ to be? I thought it was nice enough. Trying to stick to a budget here,” Zack continued.

Cloud shook his head. “That’s not what I… What about Aerith?” He still couldn’t quite believe they were having this conversation. He’d always admired Zack, but this was different. Wasn’t it?

Zack snorted. “She was the one who told me to stop pining and go for it.”

Cloud felt the heat rise in his face. Somehow, that didn’t surprise him one bit.

“What makes you think I’d be interested?” he asked, sounding far more defensive than he’d intended. But he didn’t know what to say to fix it.

Zack set his jaw, clearly hurt. But it seemed he was used to rejection enough to carry on. “Most guys don’t start blushing when another dude touches their knee,” he said decisively. “They don’t get quite that moony-eyed when they see someone in a first class uniform, either.”

Cloud turned away at what sounded like an accusation and brought his knees up defensively. He looked down at the roof tiling intently and hunched his shoulders. He was used to pushing away distracting feelings. And he was used to being mocked for having them for certain people.

Zack put an arm around his shoulders. “Hey, I’m not trying to say it’s a bad thing. I like you too, you know?”

Cloud tightened his grip on his own elbow. That was a fair point. He let his knees lower slightly and hesitantly glanced back in Zack’s direction.

Zack reached a hand up to touch his face and leaned in. Cloud raised a hand to push at the middle of his chest and ducked his head.

“Zack, I…” He mentally scrambled for what he wanted to say. Why was he so bad at this?

Hearing Zack say that had made him feel happy. And yet he still had some sense of dread hanging over him.

“This kind of thing isn’t exactly considered normal in Nibelheim,” he said carefully. “I’m glad, but I don’t…” He trailed off again.

He knew the reasoning wasn’t exactly rational, but it was still something that bothered him in the back of his mind. What would his mother say if she’d known?

Zack sat back a little, giving him some room. “I get it, I wouldn’t exactly be open about it in Gongaga either,” he admitted. “But we’re not in either of those places now. So um, why not think about it?”

Cloud could tell he was trying to not pressure him, but it was still something he clearly wanted. “Let’s just take it slowly,” he mumbled. “This is a lot to process either way. I never thought you’d ever turn around and say something like this.”

Zack wasn’t usually shy about showing his interest in other people. And Cloud had never known one of those people to be male. But a lot had changed between them since they’d escaped from the tanks. For a start, Zack wasn’t a superior officer anymore.

Zack leaned back further, pulling his arm away. He gently took hold of Cloud’s free hand and rubbed a thumb across the back of his knuckles.

“Sorry, I guess that did all just come out of nowhere from your point of view,” he said quietly. “No need to rush anything,” he added with a sincere smile.

Cloud remained silent, but squeezed his hand gratefully. Of course Zack could understand him even when he was struggling to string a sentence together.

He always had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m trying real hard to shitpost less in my fics’ author’s notes, so I decided to make a Twitter for all that. And maybe some art if I have time… @clothesbeamff if you wanna chat!


	16. Chapter 16

Aerith curled up under the bedcovers and took her phone out. Every night her mother sent a message asking where she was and if she was all right, and tonight had been no exception. She didn’t enjoy not answering, but she couldn’t risk their location being tracked now that things had finally settled down a little bit.

And as long as she didn’t answer, anyone who might bother her mother would have to assume she didn’t have her phone anymore. And there was no point in trying to use her for leverage if they had no way of communicating their intentions to Aerith.

Still, if Wall Market did end up being a bust, there was a Plan C. But it involved going much further from home than she could ever be comfortable with, even with Zack there to watch her back.

And now Cloud too, it sounded like.

Aerith smiled to herself a little as she put her phone back on the bedside table. She hoped everything was going well.

Zack had told her his plan for after the fights, of course. But she really had been tired anyway. She didn’t know how the two of them had managed to do this for weeks on end and still have the energy to go out at night.

Aerith sighed to herself and rolled over, trying to get comfortable on the lumpy pillow. She was definitely checking them out of here first thing in the morning, whether the other two ended up being hung over or not.

Time ticked by and the quiet and stillness turned into isolation and worry. What would she even do if someone busted down that door right now? She had been keeping an offensive and a restorative materia on her at all times, but she was still getting used to the idea that she might need to use it.

The Turks and Hojo were a nuisance and disgusting respectively, but neither of them had ever sought her demise. She was far more likely to run into trouble because of a random Wall Market thug. But as long as she was on edge here, anyone from Shinra would be too. And hopefully that would be enough to keep them away.

Aerith jumped when she heard the door handle rattle behind her, and quickly turned over in bed only to see it was Zack. He was saying something to Cloud as he followed him inside. Cloud’s eyes met hers as he closed the door behind him, and suddenly he looked contrite. She didn’t think it was just for barging into the room unannounced.

When he realised Cloud wasn’t listening anymore, Zack glanced back at her too. For all she knew they could hear the fact her heart had sped up at the shock.

“Sorry, should have knocked first, huh?” Zack said as he moved to drop down onto the bed, jostling her a little. “It’s just us!”

“You could try saying that before you barge inside,” Aerith replied, but didn’t quite have it in her to bring forward her teasing tone of voice.

Zack tilted his head, looking more concerned this time. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. She relaxed against his chest, even as her nose wrinkled at the smell of sweat. Either it was because of the fight, or they had quite literally been running around town together.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said quietly, more sincerely apologetic this time. “Did something happen?”

Aerith sighed and shook her head. “It was just bad timing. I was literally thinking about what I’d do if someone broke in here while I was alone.” She was kind of embarrassed to admit it in front of Cloud, but privacy wasn’t exactly possible at the moment.

“Well then, sounds like it’s group dates only from now on. I’ll leave you and Cloud to fight over me,” Zack teased as he sat back, lazily waving a hand.

Aerith shoved him in protest, but of course she didn’t so much as threaten to make him lose his balance and fall off the bed. A moment later Cloud grabbed Zack by the armour harness on his back and pulled him off the bed, shoving him in the direction of the bathroom.

“Hey! Come on, I was just—” Zack protested as he was manhandled into the room, but Cloud simply shut the door in his face.

“I’d suggest using cold water only,” Cloud commented.

Zack just laughed loudly.

Cloud folded his arms and turned back around. Aerith laughed into the back of her hand, and Cloud looked away with half a smile on his face.

“Good, one of us needs to be able to set him straight!”

Cloud shifted awkwardly, as though he’d only just realised this meant he’d have to face her alone now. He sat on the end of his bed and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. He glanced up at her a couple of times, but didn’t say whatever was on his mind.

“What is it?” Aerith encouraged.

His gloved fingers interlaced and he squeezed. “Would it really not bother you if Zack and I…?”

Aerith wanted to make a joke about what could have filled in the rest of his sentence, but he had to still be sincerely concerned about it. She had to give him an honest answer.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t mind at all,” she admitted. “But I know he likes you. And, as you just demonstrated, you can do things that I can’t.” She knew for a fact that just the thought of being restrained by someone physically stronger got Zack going. “Even if some part of me can’t help but worry about it, I trust that I won’t end up alone.”

A look crossed his face. Something like concern, or perhaps empathy.

“That’s not going to happen,” he said firmly. And for the moment, it was hard to keep doubting.

“Right,” Aerith agreed. They shared a smile, and for a moment it felt like everything would be all right.

* * *

Cloud leaned over the weapons vendor’s counter as he read through the stock listing. He still hadn’t decided whether he wanted a Soldier-sized blade now that he could handle it, or if he should just stick to his hybrid of hand-to-hand and magic. But he also wasn’t sure if he should spend that much of their money on a weapon when he was so good at breaking them.

Zack leaned over his shoulder to take another look. Cloud could tell he was getting impatient, and the first match in their series was going to start soon.

Zack jabbed his finger into one of the listed items. “Why not get tonfa that aren’t made of wood?” he suggested. “Just imagine how mad Reno will be next time we see him.”

“Don’t say that like it’s an inevitability,” Aerith piped up from behind them.

She was carrying a staff in her hands, but she still wouldn’t be able to join them tonight. Zack had insisted she could join them in the next tournament with prize money, and she had reluctantly agreed.

“This way you can steal his shtick and his stick!” Zack continued, just having to finish his lame joke.

Cloud rolled his eyes, but he didn’t have any better ideas. It would allow him to switch between his fists, weapon, and materia quickly and easily.

“Made a decision?” the vendor asked as he returned from the back of his shop. He only dragged out the big sword on special request, it seemed.

“Yeah, you have any of these in stock still?” Cloud asked as he pointed out the item. The man nodded and turned away to find it.

After weighing up the tonfa and realising the extra weight wasn’t going to make much difference to how fast he could move, Cloud nodded. It fit into the holster he already had perfectly, as well.

“I’ll take it.”

Aerith handed over the money for it and the man took it graciously. Cloud got the feeling they were going to become regular customers.

The three of them crossed the street, and as soon as they entered the Coliseum lobby he and Zack were herded over to the elevator. Aerith confidently made her way over to the bookies this time. He knew Zack always kept enough of their money on him to pay for another night at the hotel, just in case, but he still worried about people seeing Aerith with a large sum.

But he didn’t have much time to worry about it when they were pushed into the ring almost immediately. They got a few cheers when they were announced this time, but that only meant people other than Aerith were betting for them now. Hopefully the fact they were booked into more difficult matchups would make up for it.

Cloud and Zack breezed through the first two matches. Cloud had been able to stick to using his fists for the time being, and Zack had been able to deal with the human beast tamer alone. He had managed to get a scratch under one of his eyes, though.

“Let me have a look,” Cloud insisted as he tugged Zack in the direction of the chair in the room they’d been left to wait out a few matches in.

Zack rolled his eyes but allowed himself to be manhandled into place. “I’m fine, it’ll stop bleeding in a second. Like I’d let someone stick me in the eye.”

“I’ll stick you in the eye if you don’t be quiet,” Cloud muttered as he removed his right glove and felt around the wound. “Are you sure the blade wasn’t poisoned or anything?”

Zack shrugged. “I feel fine. People usually use the quick acting stuff, or materia, during a fight anyway.”

Cloud supposed he couldn’t argue with that. He doubted they’d made enough of a name for themselves for anyone to bother targeting them specifically.

He transferred the wad of tissues he’d found in the room into his other hand and started wiping up the thin stripes of blood. Zack was right, of course. The wound was so shallow it was already starting to heal over. It certainly had nothing on the scar further down his face.

Cloud leaned back slightly when he was done. Only now did he realise how he was holding Zack’s chin in place, and how quiet he’d been. When Cloud dropped his hand, Zack cleared his throat and looked away.

“Told you that you still know how to be gentle,” he said before abruptly standing up and taking his sword up.

Cloud remained silent as he disposed of the tissues. He didn’t have much time to respond anyway, since they were being called out for their final match.

As they entered the ring again, Cloud was disappointed to see their opponents were a gang of about ten people. All of them seemed to be smug and confident, which made Cloud wonder if they had something else up their collective sleeves. They had to have seen what he and Zack were capable of by now.

“Looks like you can sit this one out,” Zack teased as he readied his sword.

“We’ll see,” Cloud replied quietly just as the ringmaster announced the start of the match.

Something didn’t seem quite right, and Cloud wanted to be prepared. The first thing he did was cast regen on Zack, to his apparent surprise. He’d intended to put up a barrier on both of them next, but the effect ended up being closer to wall instead.

The apparent leader of the gang nodded in Cloud’s direction, and seven of them came after him. Taking out the support mage wasn’t a bad strategy, but Cloud hadn’t exactly been trying to draw their attention.

“Hey, I’m the one you’ve gotta worry about!” Zack exclaimed as he charged directly at the leader.

One of the guys who’d remained next to the leader jumped in the way, but Zack knocked him aside with a single swing from the blunt edge of his sword. Not that something like that was easy to take as a normal human, but they’d have a chance to heal up after the fight.

Cloud slowly backed away from the mob that was still approaching him. A few of them seemed to be less experienced than the others, and glanced over at Zack’s display of strength with worried expressions. The one at the front of the group stopped in his tracks and opened his jacket, pulling a pistol out of the concealed holster.

“Gun!” he warned Zack. Even Soldiers weren’t immune to bullets that managed to hit.

“That’s against the rules, isn’t it?” Zack replied. The leader had moved again, hiding behind what seemed to be his remaining bodyguard. Zack was circling them like a shark looking for an opportunity.

“What rules?” the leader scoffed.

The gun fired, and Cloud only had a short moment to regret not picking up a sword big enough to act as a bullet shield. He somehow managed to deflect the shot with his tonfa, but another one immediately followed it. The barrier magic flashed, but he still winced at the sharp pain between his ribs.

When he glanced down to assess the damage, he was shocked to see a small hole in his shirt but no sign of blood. He spotted what had to have been the bullet on the ground in front of him. Had the barrier been powerful enough to slow it down to the point it’d just bounced off, or was this purely another side effect of whatever had been done to his body?

It didn’t seem to take long for the rest of his assailants to figure out what had just happened. They came to a halt, some of them even backing off slowly. A few more guns appeared, but the shots continued to do no real good. He’d probably have bruises later, sure, but that was hardly a concern in comparison.

He felt a rush of something build up inside him, and suddenly everything seemed to be moving at a pace that he had plenty of time to process. He adjusted his grip on the tonfa, letting the long end protect his forearm while the short end poked past the end of his knuckles. It was possible that would do less damage to them than his actual hand.

Cloud rushed forward, closing the gap quickly. They had been the ones to approach him first, after all. He drew his fist back, but the second he was in arm’s length of the first man, he registered Zack calling out.

“Oi! Your leader is down, so give it up if you know what’s good for you!”

Cloud paused halfway through his move, right next to the guy he’d been about to slam the end of the tonfa into. He looked at Zack, who was standing over a man lying on the ground, with the end of his sword hovering over his neck. He was breathing harshly, and the end of the sword was veering wildly to the left and right. His eyes were even brighter than usual, and Cloud guessed his had to be the same.

Cloud shoved the man in front of him just enough to knock him on his ass. The rest of the group immediately dropped their weapons, sat down, and put their hands up.

The blood thirsty crowd didn’t sound particularly happy about the result, and a small, frightening part of Cloud agreed. He focused on the fact their victory meant they could keep a roof over their heads, and slid his weapon back into his thigh holster.

Zack put his sword away without the usual fanfare, too focused on Cloud. His expression was hard to read, but Cloud guessed he was concerned about what had almost just happened.

Cloud made his way over to him, and was relieved when Zack slung a casual arm around his shoulders. He couldn’t bear the thought of Zack being too afraid to come near him.

Cloud looked around as they left the ring, but he didn’t spot Aerith in the crowd. His eyes passed over what seemed to be reserved seating in an observation booth, and noticed a woman standing there, leaning over the railing and staring directly at him.

She was dressed in an elaborate kimono, but was wearing it in a way that indicated she was a lady of the night rather than of any court in Wutai. When their eyes met, she tilted her chin up in a gesture of some kind of defiance.

Zack led him back into the tunnel, forcing the staring contest to an end. Knowing his luck, she was probably the mob boss of whoever they’d just made wet their pants.

“Well, that could have gone a lot worse,” Zack muttered to himself.

“Sorry.” Now it was his turn to be forced to sit down in the chair.

Zack shook his head and put his hands on his hips. “You want to heal yourself, or should I?”

“I didn’t really get shot,” Cloud replied as he rolled his shirt up. He was still tender, but it should be fine by morning.

Zack knelt down to see for himself, and his brows shot up when he saw it was true. He pressed his fingers around where the wounds should be to make sure. Cloud winced a little, but Zack soon backed off from the sore spots.

He stared up at Cloud, but for once it seemed he only had one thing to say.

“Damn.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT: This chapter hints at Chadley’s real background very strongly, and it’s going to straight up spoil it (and prob add my own spin to it) later in the story. I realised he actually fits the third arc plot idea I had even more perfectly than I could have hoped, so… Go get caught up on that if you don’t want it spoiled here?

Tseng knew she wouldn’t be there, but he found himself returning to the old church once again anyway. Reno followed him closely with his arms crossed, still feeling sorry for himself after getting one-shotted, it seemed. Rude waited patiently in the doorway, keeping a lookout.

“What are you even hoping to find here?” Reno complained as he idly inspected one of the broken pews.

“I’m not sure, but this is her last known and most frequented location,” Tseng replied mildly. He looked up at the hole in the roof. Apparently Zack had been responsible for at least part of that too. “There might be something we’ve missed.”

He put his hands behind his back as he turned around, still looking up. It was still sitting there, just watching them as they moved around.

“You know where she is though, don’t you? You just won’t fly direct for fear that you’ll be followed.”

White wings shuffled, but otherwise there was no response to his words. Not that Tseng had really been expecting one.

When Tseng turned his gaze away, Reno raised an eyebrow at him. “You think that’s gonna tell us where they are?”

Tseng smiled tightly. “You never know.”

Reno rolled a shoulder out. “Don’t we have something more important to do?”

Tseng looked down when his phone began to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket and brought it to his ear. “Tseng.”

“Have you located any of my experiments yet?” Hojo demanded, getting straight to the point as always. At least, as he did when he wanted something important in a hurry.

“No, we will report their location the moment we know what it is.”

Hojo sighed impatiently. “Perhaps it’s time to do a little experiment. Will you or one of my creations find them first?” He finished with one of the strange sounds of amusement he usually made right when something was about to go terribly for someone else.

“Oh?” Tseng replied neutrally, well used to keeping the trepidation out of his voice.

“Hmm, yes, yes. If it’s successful, perhaps your whole money wasting unit will be decommissioned,” Hojo muttered, mostly to himself.

Tseng wasn’t truly worried that would happen any time soon. But he didn’t like not having control over the situation.

Before he could ask who or what Hojo intended to send, more so they could avoid getting in each other’s way than anything, he’d already hung up. Tseng knew better than to try and call him back when he’d decided he was done with a conversation.

He cast one last look up at the being in the rafters before heading back to the doorway. He had to have heard their conversation in full.

If he was tempted to do something about it, it’d make all of their lives a lot easier.

* * *

Kunsel was beginning to get concerned about how often he was being deployed to the slums. Usually he spent more time outside of Midgar than in it. He just had to trust someone in the network would be able to warn him if he needed to disappear.

“Ah, this must be the place,” Chadley said as he daintily slid off the back of his motorbike. His hands went to the straps of his backpack as he cast his gaze around at the lights of Wall Market. He turned back to Kunsel after a moment and smiled pleasantly.

“Why did Hojo want to send one of his ‘interns’ down here again?” Kunsel asked as he lifted his leg off the bike. He wasn’t worried about just leaving it on the side of the road. If someone else tried to ride off on it they’d soon be in for a nasty surprise.

“Given that the obvious places are out, I have calculated that this is one of the next most likely places for them to be,” Chadley informed him pleasantly. “Professor Hojo requires me to collect more data and assess the situation.”

Kunsel was actually concerned that his calculations had been correct. It’d taken a while for the army to sort itself out, but it had been widely confirmed that the people in Sector 7 had indeed been the escapees. And it made sense for them to flee here. It was close to their allies and Aerith’s home while also being an awful place to conduct a search operation.

Chadley turned on the spot and made his way over to the gate with a small bounce in his step. Kunsel supposed he could understand some of his excitement. It wasn’t like Chadley got out of the lab very often. He was just afraid this part of the world wasn’t quite what he might hope it was.

Chadley suddenly paused and turned back to face him. “Oh! You only had to transport me down here, Kunsel. You don’t have to escort me everywhere.”

Kunsel shrugged. “I have time. And it’s probably better for you to be shown some of the ropes around here so you don’t get a nasty shock later.”

Chadley laughed stiffly at what he’d perceived to be a joke. “Well, all right then! I won’t ask why you want to be here while you’re off the clock.”

Kunsel rolled his eyes. “Chadley, please. They won’t even let you in looking like that.”

“Will the appearance of adult supervision help?” Chadley asked, looking concerned now.

“No,” Kunsel replied as they walked right past the greeters at the entrance to the market. “But Soldier supervision might.”

If someone tried to come in here wearing an infantry uniform they’d get thrown out almost immediately. But most people didn’t have the balls to go toe-to-toe with a Soldier. He had emptied his pockets before coming down here, though.

“Oh,” Chadley replied, but he still didn’t seem to get it.

“What are you going to do now?” Kunsel prompted, but Chadley had already stopped to talk to someone.

“Excuse me good sir! Have you seen a pair of gentlemen in a uniform much like this one except black?” Chadley asked as he pointed back at Kunsel.

The guy glanced between Chadley and Kunsel before shrugging and nodding. “Yeah, just walked past them a minute ago,” he replied as he pointed back up the street.

Kunsel froze on the spot. Was this asshole actually being serious?

Chadley stood a little taller, pushing out the straps of his backpack. “Thank you!” he said happily before turning to walk in the indicated direction.

Kunsel hurried to keep up with him. “Hey, I don’t think that guy was telling the truth. People in the slums usually look out for each other by lying,” he began, even if it didn’t make sense. Usually they just denied ever having met someone in their life. They didn’t calmly point them out.

“We must have gotten lucky! My lie detector says there was a 98% chance that he was telling the truth,” Chadley explained brightly, tapping the little lens over one of his eyes. “Isn’t that what some people come down here for? To get lucky?”

Kunsel tried to massage his forehead through his helmet. “Semantics, kid. Look it up.”

Chadley hesitated mid-step. “Oh, I suppose that isn’t what just happened,” he muttered quietly. He seemed embarrassed, but Kunsel was sure it was because he hadn’t known something, not because of the meaning behind the phrase. “Does it still count as luck if you’re paying for it?”

“I’m not answering that,” Kunsel replied as he flipped out his PHS and hastily typed a message.

Chadley didn’t question what he was doing. He just continued scanning the faces in the crowd. Kunsel couldn’t let him catch even a glimpse of them, or this would be all over in minutes.

* * *

_Get the fuck off the street NOW_

Cloud squinted down at the screen of his phone, teriyaki skewer halfway to his mouth. He looked around, but wasn’t able to see anything obviously out of the ordinary. He looked back at Zack and Aerith, who both had their devices out too.

“Is Kunsel here?” Zack asked through his mouthful of food.

Cloud looked around at the press of people, but didn’t have a chance of spotting anyone in the crush. “Better safe than sorry?”

There was a shop next to them, but when Cloud went to try the door it was locked. Zack pressed a hand into the middle of his back.

“I see Kunsel, and some weird kid. I don’t know why he’s so worried, but I feel like we should be too.”

Cloud nodded and thumped his shoulder against the door. Thankfully the lock gave without any other part of it breaking, and the three of them were able to rush inside before closing it behind them. They all ducked down so their shadows wouldn’t be seen behind the coloured panes of glass.

Cloud looked around when he heard footsteps on the hard wooden floor. His eyes widened when he recognised the woman in the fancy kimono he’d seen at the match last night.

She narrowed her eyes at them and smacked her fan against her palm. “What is the meaning of this?” she demanded, eyes flashing, the anger in her voice barely restrained.

“Shh,” Zack muttered distractedly, eyes locked on the door as he tried to listen to what was going on outside.

“Shh? What the _fuck_ do you think you’re doing in here!?” she spat venomously, the volume of her voice immediately tripling.

Zack flinched back as she swooped down to get in his face and poked him between the eyes with the end of her fan. He fell on his butt and held a hand up to defend himself.

Apparently considering him defeated, she turned her wrath on Cloud next, putting her face right in his. Knowing a bit more about what to expect now, Cloud remained where he was with a blank face. Their noses touched before she realised he wasn’t going to move.

He put a hand on her shoulder and gently pressed downward, trying to get her to stay still. She leaned back and rapped her fan over the back of his knuckles. It didn’t hurt, of course. But he removed his hand from her personal space when it seemed she wasn’t going to scream at them again.

“We’ll be out of your hair in a minute,” he said quietly. He looked at Zack, who had gone back to listening carefully. Only then did he realise Aerith had pressed herself into his back for protection.

“Kunsel has passed us. I don’t know about the weird kid though,” Zack said.

“What was all that about?” Aerith murmured as she sat back again.

“I guess they were sent here to look for us?” Zack speculated, before seeming to realise that he shouldn’t be speaking freely.

“Let’s go, then,” Cloud said as he stood up.

The woman in front of him rose to her feet gracefully. “Wait a moment,” she said, sounding far less angry this time. “You three have been rorting the ring the past few nights, haven’t you?”

“Rorting? We’ve been winning fair and square,” Zack insisted.

The woman looked amused. “Even better. I have a business proposition for the three of you.”

Cloud tilted his head questioningly. “What do you mean?” Zack asked.

“The next Corneo Cup will be taking place this weekend. I have an opportunity to win a large sum of gil if the fighters I enter end up victorious. If you fight for me, I’ll give you a cut of my winnings to go along with the prize.”

Cloud shared a look with Zack, then Aerith. “How much money are we talking here?”

“A million gil to the winning team’s sponsor,” she said lightly. “So given how rude you’ve been, and the fact you just broke my door, let’s say you get twenty percent.”

“A million gil? Bullshit,” Zack challenged her. “You’re just saying that so we’ll accept a lower percentage.”

“Darling, it’s not my fault if you still haven’t come out from under your rock long enough to work out who I am.”

“Only twenty percent!” Aerith exclaimed suddenly. “We’re the ones doing all the work! Try an eighty-twenty split in our favour!”

“You must be joking. Without me you wouldn’t even have this opportunity! Twenty percent, and I’ll forgive your door debt,” she added.

Aerith clenched her fists and made an angry noise. “That’s not fair!” she insisted. “You could fix that trash with twenty gil!”

“You tell her babe,” Zack teased.

“Oh my god, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?” Aerith ranted as she stepped around Cloud to pinch Zack’s ear and continue calling him names in return.

Cloud awkwardly side-stepped in front of them. The woman was regarding the other two with a bemused yet disbelieving expression.

“She is right. Twenty is ridiculous. Fifty-fifty, or don’t bother coming back with another offer.”

She smiled and tapped her fan against her palm. “Your biggest expense right now is accommodation, yes? I can put the three of you up in a nice room at the hotel I own for as long as you plan to stay in the area. I’ll also manage the money until you need it, since seeing even someone as strong as you trying to carry around hundreds of thousands of gil at once would be silly.” Her smiling disposition suddenly vanished and her voice became as stony as her face. “But I really can’t go any lower than twenty-five percent.”

Cloud looked around at the other two, but they weren’t paying attention to what was happening anymore. He rolled his eyes and turned back to the woman.

“What’s your name again?”

She opened her fan and made a sound of amusement. “You can call me Madam M, dear.” He raised an eyebrow. “What, you want me to throw in breakfasts too?” That obviously wasn’t why he’d reacted, but he wasn’t going to say no to free food.

“Yes,” he replied flatly. It’d be one less thing for them to worry about.

“All right then,” she said, surprisingly agreeable.

“Fine, you’ve got it,” Cloud replied as he held out a hand to shake. She delicately returned the gesture, but not even the fan could hide how pleased with herself she looked. He had the distinct impression that they’d still been gypped.

But what would they even do with 250,000 gil right now, let alone any more than that, anyway?

Madam M glided away, reaching behind the counter for an old landline phone. “How many, uh, beds will the three of you be requiring, again?”

Cloud turned away when he felt his face heat up at the implication. Fortunately Zack seemed to be ready to jump back into the conversation again. Cloud backed off and let the other two take over.

Even if she was pulling their leg, at least they’d be able to spend the next few days hiding inside from whatever it was Kunsel was freaking out about.


	18. Chapter 18

Cloud lay on his back on the generously-sized bed, staring at his phone. He was going through the clunky calendar program he used to sporadically use to track his deployments and other important dates. He returned to the present month before idly flicking forward a few more. Not really expecting to see anything this far into what still felt like the future, he paused when he saw a recurring event was marked.

Tifa’s birthday.

It occurred to him that she would be turning twenty. Back home that would have been considered to be pretty significant. But she didn’t really have anyone to celebrate it with anymore.

Cloud started when Zack rolled over next to him, unwinding his arm from around Aerith, who appeared to still be asleep. Zack gave him a searching look as he settled his head against Cloud’s pillow. If he got much closer their faces would touch.

“What’s the matter?” Zack asked quietly.

Cloud looked away, back up at the ceiling. In the past he might have been tempted to ignore a question like that. But he doubted Zack would drop it that easily.

“Just thinking I should get Tifa something for her birthday. But who knows what we’ll be doing in a few months anyway,” he explained.

“If Crazy Lady’s plan plays out, you could renovate the entire bar for her,” Zack joked. Or at least, Cloud assumed he was joking.

He shrugged. “She’ll be twenty. It’s traditional to give something you’ve handmade. And no one else,” he paused for a moment as his throat constricted, “would know that.” Except, perhaps, for Zangan. But he had no idea where the martial arts master might be now.

Zack nodded thoughtfully, expression turning solemn after a moment. “It is kind of hard to carry a project around with us when we don’t know where we’re going to be one night to the next.”

Cloud made a sound of agreement as he put his phone down on the mattress next to him. There was another bed on the other side of the room, behind a privacy screen, but they’d all decided to sleep over here since it was roomier and the mattress more comfortable.

“What would you make, if you could?”

“Uh, I don’t know. I used to just feed her fashion addiction when we were kids.” Cloud glanced at Zack. He looked confused. “We were neighbours. Her parents made her play with me all the time, so sometimes she’d rebel by doing nothing but show me her fashion magazines.”

“But that didn’t bore you, huh?”

Cloud folded his arms and looked away. “Well, I didn’t hate it as much as she hoped I would,” he admitted begrudgingly.

Zack nodded a few times, staring at some point on the other side of the room. A moment later he squeezed his shoulder. “We’ll work something out. You must have good taste if she let you keep buying her things, right?”

Surprised Zack wasn’t outright mocking him for his stranger interests, he just made a sound that could have been interpreted as agreement. At least, it was considered a strange interest in Nibelheim. He knew there were plenty of men who made a fortune designing this stuff.

Cloud glanced down when Zack’s hand lingered. His fingers trailed down over his bicep before pressing back into the mattress again. Cloud couldn’t say he disliked the attention, but the idea that Zack wanted to give it to him was still going to take some getting used to. And so was the fact he wanted to get it.

“What?” he asked when Zack only continued to stare at him.

“Are you going to let me kiss you this time, or dodge away again?” he asked quietly, suddenly sounding more serious.

Cloud looked away again. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Zack to touch him, or vice versa. He’d just never had any form of remotely intimate relationship with anyone before. And certainly not with another guy.

“Aerith is right there,” he deflected defensively.

“Hey, Aerith, wake up,” Zack said quietly, and not in her direction. “Cloud wants you to watch.”

Cloud smacked his arm, not really thinking about how much force he was putting behind his blow. Zack laughed as he rubbed his arm.

“Hey, careful. That’s my fighting arm,” he teased.

“Oh, is that what we’re calling it now?” Cloud shot back, unable to help himself.

“Cloud, really, I thought you were unconscious while I was doing that,” Zack said, and for a moment Cloud might have believed he was actually seriously affronted.

He rolled his eyes, and Zack took the opportunity to roll on top of him. His waist slotted neatly between Cloud’s legs, and suddenly he was very aware that Zack had dressed down to a t-shirt and underwear to go to sleep.

“Like you had time to do anything like that,” he muttered.

“Eh, you’re right. Military efficiency can only get you so far.” Cloud brought a hand to his forehead. Zack gently pulled it away. “Now, what’s really bothering you?”

Cloud sighed, but he’d known it would lead back to this eventually. “I’ve never been like this with anyone before. I… I don’t know how.”

“Oh, is that all? What did you think I was going to do, make fun of you?”

“You do when it comes to everything else,” Cloud muttered.

Zack supported himself on one elbow so his other hand could reach up and touch Cloud’s cheek. “Not _maliciously_ , though. You must know that, since you poke back just as viciously.”

“I can’t about this.”

“Then I won’t be mean about it,” Zack assured him. Somehow he did feel a little better. Not that Zack had ever been cruel to him.

Zack leaned in slowly and pressed his mouth to his forehead. Cloud let his hands move to Zack’s lower back, and he seemed to take it as an invitation to continue. He pressed a kiss to one cheek, then the other. Zack’s eyes drifted down to his mouth, but this time he waited.

Cloud manoeuvred one of his hands between them, using it to press lightly at the back of Zack’s neck to draw him closer. Their lips met in a close-mouthed kiss and he let his eyes fall shut. He dragged his other hand up Zack’s muscular back, making his shirt ride up as he went. There was no denying he was doing this with a guy. With Zack.

But for the moment he’d forgotten why he would ever want to deny any of those things.

Zack’s fingers combed through his hair and tightened slightly at the base of his neck. He tilted his head and opened his mouth, drawing Cloud’s bottom lip between his. Cloud couldn’t help the soft sound of pleasure that left his mouth. He felt Zack breathe in sharply and roll his hips.

Cloud’s eyes opened suddenly, but he didn’t know why he’d found it hard to fathom Zack was… well.

“Um,” Aerith’s soft voice was enough to make them both jump.

They broke apart to look over at her, but she was still lying on her side with her back to them. Cloud felt his face burn. How had he not noticed her waking up? He should have heard the change in her breathing, if nothing else.

“I didn’t want to interrupt before, but I feel like it’s only right I let you know I’m not asleep anymore. I know you don’t care, Zack. But Cloud might.”

Zack glanced back at him and gave him a sheepish look. “Had enough?”

Cloud nodded even though part of him disagreed. But ultimately he’d rather do this in private, especially for his first time.

Zack gave him a reassuring smile before rolling off of him and back into the position he’d started in, curled around Aerith. “Sorry, I got carried away,” he mumbled as he let her take hold of one of his hands in both of hers.

Aerith shrugged before settling back against the pillow. “Do what you want. I was just saying,” she mumbled.

They settled into silence. A moment later Cloud turned onto his side and curled up against Zack’s back. Zack shifted a little, and then his other hand was resting on his waist. Cloud reached up to take hold of it, interlacing their fingers.

Even though it was the middle of the day, his body gladly took the opportunity to catch up on getting some more rest. They could afford not to go to the coliseum today now that they had their accommodation sorted for at least the next few nights. Resting and recuperating before whatever the tournament probably wasn’t a bad idea anyway.

Cloud exhaled deeply, and a small smile crossed his face.


	19. Chapter 19

Kunsel dragged his feet as he followed Chadley around the emptying streets once again. The boy just did not stop. But Kunsel didn’t want to leave him alone for too long, though he knew he was going to get called back to the tower of doom sooner or later.

“Look, I know you don’t need sleep, but don’t you need some kind of R and R still?”

Chadley paused on a street corner and turned to look back at him. “Yes, but I can go for a few more days yet. Professor Hojo does want me to succeed quickly, as a proof of concept.”

Kunsel folded his arms. He’d struggled to find information on the project that had given birth to Chadley and his ilk. He got the feeling that even Hojo wasn’t quite sure of the extent he was going to go to with them. But now it sounded like he wanted to start replacing people.

“Why are you in such a hurry? Don’t you want to enjoy being out here while you have the chance?”

A small frown crossed Chadley’s face as he looked away. “I can’t want anything.”

“Don’t give me that. I saw how excited you were to be here yesterday… The night before? Whatever.”

But that was what Hojo was going for, wasn’t it? The perfect intersection between obedience and intelligence. What he’d managed to dig up about Strife seemed to indicate as much, anyway. But unfortunately for Hojo, it seemed he still hadn’t quite hit the sweet spot on that inverse relationship.

“I need to be able to emulate emotions to interact with people,” Chadley instantly recited the usual excuse. “I’m not part of the Lifestream.”

Kunsel put his hands on his hips. “You run on mako like everything else that comes out of Shinra’s labs, don’t you?”

“That’s not the same,” Chadley protested.

“A lot of people would beg to differ,” Kunsel muttered.

But there was no use in saying anything more than that. He didn’t want Chadley’s data on him to be fed back to Hojo.

“Anyway, I’m going to bed. Have fun,” Kunsel said as he headed back in the direction of the hotel, if it could be called that, he’d booked into last night.

A moment later he heard footsteps shuffle after him. “I’ll come with you.”

Kunsel inclined his head and kept walking. Even if he did offer to tell Chadley where they were, he’d probably refuse his help. He had something to prove, it seemed.

“But you know, if I fail, I might be decommissioned,” Chadley added quietly.

Kunsel glanced back at him. It wasn’t like Hojo had respect for life, even when there was no ambiguity.

“Sounds to me like going back isn’t in your interests either,” he couldn’t help but add.

He had to give the boy something to think about. The other three couldn’t hide from him forever, and some self-doubt might just be what would help them escape the encounter.

And hearing another point of view might just do Chadley some good too.

* * *

Zack paused to look back at his unenthusiastic troops as they marched over to the outskirts of Sector 5. He was pretty sure Cloud was still half asleep, and Aerith didn’t look particularly pleased about being up before the sun. Especially not after staying up until the wee hours of the morning for most of the past week or so.

Getting out of bed was something Zack had never had trouble with. But he tried to be sympathetic instead of impatient. The only reason they’d come out this early was that it’d reduce the probability of them being spotted.

“Chin up you two, almost there!”

Cloud ignored him. Aerith switched her staff to her other hand again, seemingly trying to find a way to carry it comfortably.

“Whose idea was this again?” Aerith mumbled.

“Come on, we need to test whether our materia loadouts have good synergy before we find ourselves in an actually serious fight!” Zack reminded. “If we can’t know our enemies, then we at least need to know ourselves.”

“I know, I know,” Aerith mumbled.

Cloud suddenly lifted his head and moved to walk closer to Aerith. He scanned their surroundings with a frown before focusing in one direction. Zack twisted to have a look as well, and then he noticed the scratching noise Cloud must have picked up on.

“Ew!” Aerith exclaimed as a swarm of giant rats emerged from a pile of rubbish. A moment later a fireball blasted into the middle of them, wiping out some and making the rest scatter.

“Aerith! They would have made for perfect melee practice!” Zack complained. But he couldn’t deny he was impressed by her control over the magic. As bothered as she was, she hadn’t singed the ground or accidentally started a trash fire.

“I wouldn’t touch them with, well, a five foot pole,” she said as she raised her staff slightly.

Zack shook his head, but couldn’t help but smile at her explanation. “I’m not sure if we’re going to find anything less gross than that to fight out here. So suck it up,” he teased.

“Maybe I don’t need to go near them at all,” she replied. “There are ways of using magic without using up all your energy, you know.”

Zack raised an eyebrow and tilted his head as they continued onward in a tighter group. He had to know more about this one.

“You know, changing the moisture in the air into ice. Super charging already existing static electricity. Turning heat energy into light?”

Zack glanced past Aerith to meet Cloud’s eye. He looked just as confused.

“Uh, I don’t think normal people can do that.”

“Don’t say that like I’m some kind of freak!” Aerith complained, bumping an elbow into his side.

“Oh come on, if I’m including me and Cloud in ‘normal’, the bar has been set pretty low.”

“But you’re still excluding me from it,” she replied with a pout.

“Well sorry honey, but a weirdo like me is probably about the best someone like you can do,” he said, trying to make himself the butt end of his joke too.

Aerith brought a hand to her mouth. “I guess I did pretty well, then.”

Not expecting a sincere compliment, Zack started a little. Aerith laughed at him softly.

“Not to interrupt,” Cloud said quietly, “but I think we should stay more alert. I get the feeling there’s more than just rats around here.”

“Right,” Zack agreed sheepishly. He shouldn’t be getting distracted when he was the one who’d dragged them out here in the first place.

They continued making their way around the slums in silence. Zack got a strange sense of déjà vu, then realised it was because this was essentially what a lot of the missions he’d been sent on early in his career had been. But he’d rarely had company on tasks like this.

They walked past yet another pile of rubble, but suddenly it began to shift. Cloud started and moved to stand in front of Aerith once again. Zack had noticed him do this before, seemingly instinctively. He wondered if he was strategically protecting their physically weakest party member, or if something else was going on.

If Cloud wanted to protect her because he cared about her, they could definitely work with that.

The pile assembled itself into a smogger. He’d heard these things were still wandering the streets, but couldn’t recall ever actually encountering one before. Zack circled around it, trying to work out what he wanted to do. Slamming the sword against metal wasn’t exactly good for it, but if he could get behind it he might only have to hit it a few times.

“You mind if I use magic this time?” Aerith murmured. “This looks a lot more solid than the rats.”

Zack shrugged. “Go for it.”

“Ok, here I go,” Aerith warned as she raised her staff. A bolt of lightning struck the smogger, and it didn’t seem to like it very much.

Cloud immediately leapt forward, aiming to take advantage of the fact, it seemed. Unfortunately it hadn’t been slowed down as much as they’d thought, and spewed toxic-looking smoke directly in his face.

Cloud stumbled backward, coughing and attempting to rub his eyes. Though his gloves didn’t make the latter any easier. Zack started worrying. He was pretty sure this was the first time he’d seen Cloud falter in battle since their great escape.

“We’ve got this, just stay back,” Zack called as he finished circling around, striking the bot just as it finished clearing its exhaust.

“Here comes another one,” Aerith called, and he jumped back as another bolt came down. The raw power made him shiver a little, but it didn’t feel the same as whatever Cloud did to him.

The smogger looked like it was just about to fall apart again when Cloud blindly leapt in Aerith’s direction. “Get down!” he called, a little too late for Zack to have time to follow his advice.

He brought the sword up to protect his vitals and face, but he definitely still felt the explosion as it went up around him. It wasn’t quite as bad as a bomb going off in his face, but it still wasn’t fun.

Zack staggered in their direction, trying to wave the dust out of his face. He sighed with relief when he saw Cloud had knocked himself and Aerith out of the blast radius before she’d fallen over. He was hovering over her, still trying to blink the smog out of his eyes even as he used his body to protect her.

“Why do I feel like all this ended up a lot messier than it needed to be?” Zack joked, then winced slightly. Maybe his burns were a little worse than he’d thought.

“Oh no, oh no,” Aerith murmured as she looked between them, seemingly not sure where to start.

“We’re fine,” Zack said, though Aerith didn’t look very reassured. “If you’re going to fight with us, then you need to get used to triaging this kind of thing and worrying later.”

Aerith opened her mouth as if to argue, then closed it and looked away. “Ok,” she said quietly. When Cloud sat back on his haunches, she was able to sit up too. She looked determined.

“He’s right, I just wasn’t expecting it,” Cloud added. “There’s still a lot I can do without being able to see or breathe properly.”

“Be that as it may, for now it’s probably a good idea to clean your eyes and face with this,” she said as she handed him an item.

Cloud uncapped the bottle and did as suggested while Aerith stood up and made her way over to Zack. She grimaced at the burns on his arms as she prepared to cast healing magic. Zack held his arms away from his body to make sure the skin wasn’t in contact with his shirt, and therefore wouldn’t heal into it.

He only needed to see that nasty image once in his life.

The cooling, refreshing tingle quickly closed his wounds. Zack sighed with relief and automatically ran a hand over where the burns had been.

“Well anyway, I’m glad you didn’t get caught in that,” Zack said to Aerith as he made his way over to Cloud. It seemed he was feeling more normal now as well. “It’s good to know what we do still need to be wary of.”

“Yeah,” Cloud mumbled, but a deep frown was carving up his face. Before Zack could ask him what was wrong, he’d already started down the path again.

“Are you sure we should keep going?” Aerith asked as she hurried after him.

“We’ve already fought worse things in the arena. The three of us need to get better at fighting together,” Cloud said bluntly.

“Oh, ok!” Aerith replied, though Zack could tell from her tone that his abrasive wording hadn’t gone over well.

“It’s not you, it’s him!” Zack called out teasingly as he brought up the rear of their group.

Only then did Cloud reassess how what he’d said had come off. “I didn’t mean… uh,” Cloud muttered as he walked on ahead. Aerith and Zack shared a small smile behind his back.

They’d figure it out eventually.


	20. Chapter 20

The knock at the door didn’t immediately register for Aerith. It was the mattress shifting when the other two quickly got to their feet that had her blinking her eyes open.

She glanced at Zack and had to hold back a sound of amusement. No matter the current situation, the sight of him wielding the buster sword in his underwear was still ridiculous. But maybe things weren’t as bad as they seemed. Which one of their enemies would warn them they were there by knocking first? Tseng, possibly, but…

Zack stood close to the door and reached for the handle. Cloud filled the space that would be visible once the door opened to the person outside, adopting a ready stance. They nodded at each other and Zack swung it open a small way.

Cloud hurriedly waved Zack down, but Madam M was already strolling into their room. She was either oblivious to or didn’t care about the danger. She gazed around at them one by one.

“You’re all still here then? Good.” Her gaze returned to Zack and she raised an amused eyebrow.

“Hi,” he said as he lowered the sword sheepishly. He closed the door behind her.

“We don’t have anywhere else to go,” Cloud said bluntly.

“Well, I had to make sure you weren’t planning to bail on me,” she explained, immediately becoming more business-like. “I’ve got some intel on what will likely be your last opponent tonight.”

“Isn’t that cheating?” Aerith asked automatically.

Madam M laughed at her lightly. “That’s expected here, dear. If he can’t keep his secrets, that’s not my problem.” She closed her fan and rested the tip against her collarbone. “Apparently you can expect three big, repurposed Shinra robots.”

Cloud and Zack glanced at each other. Aerith wondered if they already knew what she was talking about.

“So, lightning, right?” she said quietly.

“Sounds like a good bet,” Zack agreed. “But I think both of you were going to have that covered anyway.”

Madam M shrugged, seeming to find that personally affronting. “Well, better than not knowing, hm?”

“Yeah, but we’ve got this! Don’t worry so much,” Zack replied.

“It’s hard to take a man seriously when he’s only wearing his underwear,” Madam M sniped. “But I won’t have anything to worry about so long as you three don’t get cold feet.”

“We’ll be there,” Cloud said flatly.

Madam M held his eye for a long time before finally nodding. “See you all tonight, then.” She turned and swept out of the room just as suddenly as she had appeared.

As soon as the door closed again, Zack started thinking out loud. “If she’s talking about those cutty, sweepy and bashy or whatever things, this might not be so easy to deal with. They like venting their pollutants all over their enemies too.”

“As long as I don’t stand there like an idiot again, we won’t have to worry about that.”

Aerith got out of bed and wandered over to her suitcase to find something to change into. Her pink dress was clean again now thanks to yesterday’s laundry run. She moved into the bathroom to get changed, but didn’t close the door all the way. It was easy to stand out of sight, and she wasn’t going to take long.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s better if we go prepared for the worst, right?” Zack said.

“We don’t have enough money to buy something that’ll prevent that kind of thing,” Cloud argued as he moved across the room toward the privacy screen. It seemed he’d decided to get changed as well.

Aerith stepped out of the bathroom and redid the plait in her hair. “Maybe we don’t need that much?”

By the time she’d turned around, Cloud was stepping out from behind the screen, fully dressed. “What do you mean?”

“Find a scarf made of the right materials and some goggles, and you’ll be all good!” He still looked sceptical. “Come on, I saw a clothes shop nearby that might have what we need. Even if we have to get a snorkel, it’ll be better than nothing.”

Cloud folded his arms, still resistant. Aerith walked over and looped her hand through one of his elbows.

“Come on bodyguard, off we go!”

“Didn’t Kunsel say something about not going out in public dressed like this anymore?” he argued.

He was right, of course. They had to be careful. Apparently the boy Zack had seen the other night was using some kind of facial recognition technology to try and find them among the crowds. And apparently Hojo was the one who had put him up to it.

“Then put on a hat and jacket or something! We’ve got to find something nice. I mean, heh, suitable,” she teased.

Cloud rolled his eyes, but surprisingly he did as she suggested. Maybe calling him her bodyguard had softened him up a bit after all.

“Wait, I’ll just find some clothes,” Zack said as he started looking around the room for his own stuff.

“Uh, too slow! We’ll catch you when we get back,” Aerith said quickly. She pushed Cloud out into the corridor.

Zack gave her a confused look. She smiled at him, hoping to reassure him. “Ok, ok. Go cuckold me or whatever then.”

Aerith paused in the doorway to turn on the spot. He still looked kind of confused under the teasing demeanour. “Please, I know you’d be into that,” Aerith said lightly before snapping the door shut. She settled her hands against Cloud’s elbow modestly. “Anyway, shall we?”

Cloud just shook his head, clearly embarrassed. “How do you two talk to each other like that all the time? And why do I always end up getting stuck in the middle of it?”

“Cloud, really… I’ve been on my best behaviour!” If only she were joking.

“Sure,” he muttered. His gaze flicked around as they walked through the hotel lobby. Maybe they would have been better off if she’d done her hair differently or something as well.

The streets were much quieter during the day, though it was late enough for some of the late risers to be out and about. Aerith led Cloud to the shop she had in mind, avoiding meeting anyone else’s eyes, just in case.

As they crossed the threshold into the shop, it seemed Cloud was too busy checking the identity of the other patrons to pay much mind to where they were. Or rather, what the main commodity was here.

“Morning,” the old man sitting behind the counter greeted without looking up.

Aerith realised he was crocheting a large item, though his hands were working so fast she could barely keep track of them. Cloud was staring at them too, a slight frown creasing his brow.

“Good morning!” Aerith greeted, taking a step closer to the counter. “Is that a new design?”

This time the man looked up at them, though his hands didn’t falter. “Yes, I’m just testing the pattern before I go ahead and mass produce them,” he replied. “Should be ready by the end of the week, if you’re interested.”

Cloud stepped forward as well and glanced over the counter, looking at the other pieces that were set down on the bench space behind the man. “You design all of these?”

He nodded. “Yes, of course. I wouldn’t sell anyone else’s work in my shop.”

Aerith could see Cloud wanted to know more. He didn’t need her there to speak for him.

“I’m just going to look at some things over there,” she interrupted quietly, pointing to the far wall of the shop. Cloud turned as if to follow her, but she patted is shoulder. “It’s ok, finish what you’re doing. I won’t be long.”

She made her way over to the wall of accessories, and was glad when he didn’t insist on following her over. She turned her attention to the available options. Linen or nylon would probably be better for their purposes. Something like what Shinra’s infantrymen were all deployed with.

Aerith selected a pair of plain red neckerchiefs, guessing that would result in fewer complaints than the floral patterns. She chose something more substantial for herself so she’d be able to cover some of her hair and face with it as well, if needed. She smiled slightly as she picked up the pink flower-print material.

By the time she’d returned to the counter, Cloud had somehow acquired a crochet hook and ball of yarn and was growing increasingly frustrated at the man who was trying to give him instructions. Aerith came to stand beside him, and nudged him lightly.

“Having fun?”

He raised an eyebrow at her selection of purchases. “I can see you are.”

“What? Red goes with black just fine!”

“But pink on pink?” he replied, the corner of his mouth twitching into a smile.

Aerith nudged him a little more solidly this time. “Well, Zack likes it. Mr Judgy,” she muttered. She placed the items on the counter so the shop owner could record their purchase.

He looked amused as he ticked the items off in his inventory. Aerith handed over the money, and he put their items in a paper bag with a fancy logo printed on it. He glanced down at something behind the counter before seeming to make a decision.

“Well, you seem to get the basic concept well enough. You can graduate to patterns soon,” he said as he slid a folded piece of paper into the bag as well. “You’re one of Jules’ boys, aren’t you? Tell him I’ll have it ready by tonight.”

Cloud hesitated, clearly having no idea what he was talking about. But Aerith didn’t want to waste his good will. “If we see him today we’ll let him know.” She took hold of Cloud’s elbow again and led them back out onto the street.

“Jules?” he muttered.

She shrugged. “Maybe not all of his dresses are intended for women.” But knowing what she did about Wall Market, it wouldn’t entirely surprise her.

Cloud glanced over his shoulder as though he hadn’t noticed that had been the main commodity sold in the shop. He had been pretty distracted, she supposed.

“Anyway, I guess we’d better get back to Zack now. Maybe he remembered what clothes were while we were gone?”

She could have sworn his face turned a little pinker. “What is up with that?”

Aerith giggled, and he glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. “What do you think? He’s trying to get your attention.”

Cloud opened his mouth, but his brain seemed to stall. After a moment he tried again. “He already has it,” he mumbled.

“Then maybe you could find a way to make that more obvious,” she said gently. “And more frequently.”

Cloud remained silent, but something seemed to be ticking over in his mind. Aerith decided to leave him to it. For now.


	21. Chapter 21

Kunsel huffed as he flipped out his PHS, trying to avoid sticking his elbow into the crush of the crowd around him. He glanced down and his mouth tightened as he read the message. Of course he was being recalled now, of all times.

He glanced over at Chadley, who was sitting next to him, swinging his feet. After their little existential chat he’d bounced back strangely quickly. A rumour about two Soldiers showing up in the ring sometimes was all it had taken to get Chadley to use his Shinra allocated funds to buy them tickets.

Kunsel turned his attention back to what was happening in the ring. The sweepers were absolutely crushing the group of monsters they’d been pitted against for the preliminary round. A few moments, and suddenly it was all over in a flash of bright green. The ring was cleared quickly, and the next lot of fighters entered.

Kunsel tensed when he saw who it was. Predictably, Zack, Cloud and Aerith had done little to attempt to disguise themselves. But maybe the facial recognition was too good to be fooled that easily, anyway.

Chadley sat up a little straighter. Kunsel briefly contemplated whether it would be a good idea to use the sword that was still at his back. But then Chadley turned to look at him, and suddenly that didn’t seem to be an option.

“Hojo wants me to sit back for now and just record data about their fights. You can go if you need to.”

Kunsel tilted his head. “You’re stealing my phone data now too?” he tried to ask casually. But really he was filled with dread at his potentially poor decision.

Chadley looked away. “Not everything I see has to get fed through for analysis.”

Kunsel’s hand tightened on his arm. Having Chadley as an ally definitely wouldn’t be a bad thing. But could he really be trusted when Hojo had such a tight grip on him?

Kunsel knew he had exactly twenty minutes to show his face before his absence would arouse even more suspicion. He had to believe these three could handle themselves for now.

Kunsel stood, making the guy behind him let out a sound of complaint. But Chadley took hold of his arm and pulled him back down a little.

“You are being watched, Kunsel. In Shinra’s computer network, I mean. They want to trace your next intelligence request, so don’t give them the opportunity.”

Kunsel shrugged him off. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said quickly before turning away to start trying to sidle out past the rowdy crowd.

He’d take the warning to heart, but he didn’t want there to be any kind of recorded evidence of him admitting to the things he’d been doing. He was pretty sure Chadley could understand that.

* * *

Zack absentmindedly put pressure on his partially healed wound as he examined the sword with concern. The saw blades on that robot had scratched it to shit. They’d managed to blow it to pieces in the end, of course, but things could have gone a lot better.

He felt a hand close around his uninjured arm and obligingly sat down in the chair he was being guided toward. “Put the sword down for a second, would you?” Aerith demanded as she moved to stand on his injured side. “Carrying something that heavy is just going to open the wound back up.”

“I’m fine,” he said dismissively.

She huffed at him in annoyance and he glanced up at her. Dirt was streaked across one of her cheeks and the knee area of her dress from when she had fallen over trying to dodge something. There was a streak of blood up one of her forearms, but he didn’t think it was hers.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

Aerith sighed and glanced between his wound and his face once again. “He wanted you to have it so you could protect yourself, and others,” she said quietly. She ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up a little at the back. “You never had to become him.”

Zack looked down at his feet, then carefully lowered the blade to the floor. He had all the props. The sword, the uniform, and the hair he supposed. But he had needed something to hold onto at the time.

It was what had gotten him this far.

Aerith took his arm now that it wasn’t under strain from carrying the weight anymore and ran another round of healing magic over him. The mako in his veins seemed to rush alongside it, helping the wound to close and the muscle and blood to replenish.

“Anyway, that was the last round, wasn’t it?” Aerith continued quietly. “Isn’t this exciting? We’ll be able to hide here indefinitely and still have enough left over to transform Leaf House.”

“You planning to adopt all the kids in Midgar?” Zack tried to ask lightly, but his thoughts were still lingering in a heavy place.

Aerith smiled sadly. “Any child I produced myself would be hunted down by Shinra scientists, right? Maybe it’s the more responsible thing to do.”

“I guess that’d probably go double if it was mine too,” Zack muttered moodily. It wasn’t like he was ready to go there, but still.

“Well, think of it this way. We’ll be heroes!” Aerith said lightly as she turned away to retrieve the first aid kit.

She started wiping away the streaks of blood that had gone everywhere. They’d either need a laundry day soon, or to find new clothes to fight in. But if the madam came through, affording the latter shouldn’t be a problem.

He looked around when another chair scraped along the ground. Cloud dropped into it heavily and reached for a gauze pad to wipe his brow with. From what Zack could see, he wasn’t injured at all, or even particularly dirty. He’d spent most of the fight casting lightning bolts from a distance.

“Are you ok?”

Aerith turned to look back at him with searching eyes. Cloud only leaned forward to hold his forehead in his hands.

“Cloud?” Aerith added, leaving Zack to finish cleaning himself up.

He still didn’t respond. She carefully took the gauze from between his fingers and inspected it.

“Zack?” she said unsteadily. “Is this normal?” She shoved the pad under his nose so he could get a better look.

“Is that…?” he asked, definitely confused.

It looked like Cloud was sweating profusely. And among the sweat, mako seemed to be escaping his body as well. The pale green glow was unmistakeable, even if the circumstances didn’t make any sense.

“No,” he said quietly as he shook his head. “Only… when he first came out of the tank his body seemed to be doing everything it could to get rid of the excess mako. That’s the last and only time I’ve ever seen anyone sweat it out.”

“Maybe using his power so much caused some kind of imbalance?” Aerith speculated.

Zack stood, feeling dizzy for a moment before reclaiming his equilibrium and crossing the room. Cloud was staring unseeingly at the ground, so Zack knelt down in front of him.

“Hey, are you ok in there?”

Cloud tilted his chin up slightly. Zack was glad to get some kind of acknowledgement.

“Are you feeling sick again? We can get out of here and rest somewhere quiet,” Zack reassured him.

Cloud flinched, and then sat up ramrod straight. He took a deep breath, then blinked a few times before his eyes landed on Zack.

“Is that… smoke?” he asked, breathing deeply and looking around once again.

“Uh, I can’t smell anything,” Zack replied as he got back to his feet. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I just… never mind.” Cloud sat back against the chair again and exhaled steadily. Other than looking worn out, he did seem to be fine now. “Was that our last fight?”

Zack was about to answer the affirmative when the door behind them swung open. A slightly out of breath Madam M stormed into the room. She assessed them with wide, possibly concerned eyes.

“I’ve got bad news,” she said sharply.

Zack felt his gut drop. If _she_ looked worried, then this couldn’t be good. “What?” he asked cautiously.

“That greedy bastard Corneo is going to milk this for as much as he can. Unless you win the special match he’s just announced, none of us will be getting our money at all!”

“That’s not what we agreed,” Cloud began quietly.

Madam M cut the air with her closed fan. “You think I don’t know that!? The terms of the bet were clear, but that asshole just does whatever the hell he wants!” She closed her other fist tightly, teeth clenching between her coloured lips.

Zack waved his hands in front of his face. “Hey, relax, no one’s blood pressure should ever be that high,” he began, trying to make light of the situation even though he really wasn’t in the mood. Her glare only intensified, so he continued quickly. “Seriously, relax. We’ll take care of whatever it is and everything will work out as we agreed.”

“Zack, are you sure we can handle fighting something else? I know I’m not the only one who’s tired,” Aerith added, glancing at Cloud with concern.

But Cloud was already standing up next to him, nodding his head. “Right, we’ll be fine.”

Madam M looked relieved, and she calmed down enough to give them a slow nod. “In that case, you’ll probably be wanting these,” she said as she pulled a few bottles out of her obi and gave them to Cloud. Mega-potions, from what Zack could see. “I’ll buy you as much time to rest and patch yourselves up as I can.”

“Ok,” Zack agreed. She hurried out of the room, business-like once again. Zack turned back to his partners and immediately noticed Aerith had her arms tightly crossed.

“Zack!”

He flinched, not used to her ever seriously being mad at him. But he supposed that had been easier to avoid when he’d spent so much time on deployment. “This is a stupid idea! You saw the state we were all in a minute ago,” she added, though her focus was clearly on Cloud.

“I’m not saying we should just run in there like nothing’s wrong,” Zack replied. “You’re going to stay as far from the enemy as possible, and you,” he added as he turned to Cloud, “are forbidden from casting any more magic today.”

“Excuse me?” Cloud replied flatly.

“And then what, you’re going to take whatever that thing is on alone?” Aerith demanded.

“I’m not a stranger to getting hurt.” Or to working alone. “And we need to establish some kind of home base to operate out of eventually. This is our only option to do that right now.” Aerith still didn’t look convinced. “You know I’ve bounced back from worse.”

“I’m afraid that one day you won’t,” Aerith said quietly. “It’s not like I enjoy seeing you get hurt in the first place, either.”

“Hey,” Zack said weakly. “We’re not even close to beat yet.”

He tried to pull Aerith into an embrace so he could kiss her, but she turned away sharply so she was side on to him. She leaned into him when he put his arms around her, but she still obviously wasn’t happy.

“Things will get better after this,” he said quietly.

“And I’ll be fine,” Cloud added from beside them. He’d approached quietly. “So will you.”

“Better be,” Aerith mumbled, and Zack squeezed her a little tighter. He knew keeping their spirits high was going to be half the battle.

But what was the worst Corneo could throw at them anyway?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He just had to ask...


	22. Chapter 22

Cloud flexed his fingers and squinted slightly as they walked back out into the ring once again. Even if he did like the fighting, he didn’t think he’d ever get used to the crowd and the noise. That coupled with the bright lights was just too much for him.

Aerith put her hand on his elbow. They’d had a good half an hour to clean themselves up and recover, so she wasn’t covered in blood and dirt anymore. He suspected Madam M had convinced the person running the show that it was a good time to let people spend more money on food and alcohol.

“Are you ok?” Aerith asked quietly enough to be lost in the noise, but it wasn’t hard for him to guess what she was saying.

“Yeah, let’s just get this over with.”

Aerith still looked worried. “No magic unless we really need it, ok?”

He inclined his head slightly. Normally a break would be enough for him to scrounge up a little more magic power, but he still felt like he was running on half a tank. At least compared to when they had first arrived in Midgar, anyway.

Zack looked over his shoulder and gave them a grim smile. “Remember the strategy,” he said.

“Sure, unless it’s a bomb or something,” Cloud replied.

Before Zack could protest that notion, the announcers began pumping the crowd back up again. “And here they are, back in the saddle again! Our dynamic duo turned trio will now face their final challenge!”

“Whatever could it be?” the man in the orange vest said in a mocking tone.

“We shall see, we shall see!”

Cloud took half a step back when part of the floor in the middle of the ring started moving. After a moment he realised the circle in the middle of the ring had actually been two doors all along, and now they were sliding open.

When he saw the roof of the house, at first he assumed it was some kind of elaborate set prop. But it soon became obvious that it was the only thing on the rising platform.

Aerith laughed nervously. “Is this some kind of joke?”

The announcers were yelling something about dreaded real estate even as the house continued to remain stationary. Somehow, he doubted it.

The whole house seemed to shiver, and suddenly flames erupted in the windows. Cloud readied his weapon and stepped forward in front of Aerith, even though he had no idea where he was supposed to target the thing. Maybe he could just smash down the walls and put a halt to whatever weird magic was causing this.

“I guess I’ll be trying blizzard?” she commented.

Cloud nodded, glad she was the one who had equipped that element now. He supposed they could always stop and exchange something if they really needed to.

“I don’t see why not.”

Zack glanced back at them briefly, looking just as mystified. It seemed he was having the same problem as Cloud.

“And here! They! Gooo!” the announcers yelled, and suddenly the house was up on whatever passed as its feet.

Fireballs shot out of it, arcing into the air before flying toward them. Cloud went to push Aerith back, but she was already on the move. Zack dodged out of the way of the missile targeting him and sprinted forward.

Cloud rolled out of the way, and looked back only to see the flaming missile was a chair. Or at least, it had been once.

Aerith cast her first spell, and part of the house frosted over. She gestured at Cloud, indicating he should advance. He supposed he didn’t have any choice unless he was going to start using magic too. He had to trust she’d take care of herself and call him over if she needed anything.

It took him no time at all to reach the house, and when he got there he couldn’t help but let out a little laugh. Zack dropped from where he’d leapt up to land a few blows and put a hand on his back.

“What’s up with you? Don’t tell me you’re delirious now.” He only seemed to be half joking.

“I don’t know how many hours I’ve spent training to use this thing,” he said quietly, shifting his grip on the tonfa slightly. “It doesn’t exactly have a temple, ribs, or thigh to go for. What do I even do with this thing?”

Zack snorted, but they both had to leap away from each other as the house jumped into the air and tried to land on them. “You think I’m not having exactly the same problem?” he called as another of Aerith’s spells landed.

Cloud jumped up to strike it in the same spot, hoping to do more damage. But when the blow landed, it didn’t seem to have affected it very much. His eyes widened as it suddenly charged forward across the arena. The corner of the house clipped him as it passed. He rubbed what would undoubtedly become a bruise as he looked around for Aerith.

“I’m fine!” she yelled from behind him between heavy breaths. It seemed she’d had to sprint out of the way.

She would be fine as long as Cloud managed to keep its attention on him.

But Zack was already ahead of him, chasing it down with his sword raised. Just as he was about to strike at one of the plaster walls, some kind of barrier rose up and encircled the house. The sword essentially bounced off, making Zack lose his footing for a moment.

And a moment was all the house needed to pull Zack in through its front door.

Cloud stumbled to a halt as the door slammed shut. He hadn’t been expecting that at all.

“Zack!” Aerith exclaimed. She cast more ice magic from the other side of the arena. Cloud shook his head and continued his advance. He’d knock a hole out one of its walls if that was what it took.

The house turned on its weird legs, and suddenly its fire had gone out. He rushed in and landed a hit, only for most of the weight to be taken out of it by the barrier. A second later he’d been picked up by what felt like a tornado and flung back into the middle of the ring.

Cloud quickly rolled into a crouch, only for Zack’s flying body to smack into him and knock them both back over. Cloud automatically wrapped his arms around him as they fell, taking the brunt of the force again. Fortunately Zack had managed to keep his sword out of their way.

“That thing is cursed! Cursed!” Zack exclaimed.

Cloud sat up and looked down at him. He did seem pretty shaken. “What happened to you in there?”

Zack just shook his head. “No time! You take this,” he said, thrusting the handle of the buster sword in Cloud’s direction. “You’re the one with the best chance of breaking down its defences!”

Cloud handed Zack his tonfa before taking hold of the sword almost reverently. It was hard not to when he saw the way Zack treated it. He automatically reached out to feel which materia were set in it, and suddenly he was feeling the now familiar rush.

“Hey, no casting,” Zack reminded as he got to his feet. But his attention was quickly diverted when he realised the house was leaving them alone because it was chasing after Aerith. “Hey, get away from her!”

It seemed the house had now adopted the element Aerith had been tossing at it. Cloud knew he was the only one of them with a fire materia. And the house seemed resolutely uninterested in Zack, who was never going to get there in time.

The mako seemed to pound through his system as he cast the best fire spell he could muster out of a mastered materia. A pillar of flame burst up and around the house, singing it both inside and out, he hoped. The crowd gasped, and the people closest to it leaned away as far as they could.

The house paused in its pursuit and Aerith was able to stop running and catch her breath. Zack reached her, but his eyes stayed locked onto Cloud. It seemed he could still feel whatever he was putting out.

The house turned awkwardly on the spot. It seemed Cloud had its attention now.

He shifted his grip on the sword handle. The weight was nothing to him now, but it was still far larger than anything he was used to using. It seemed he was going to have to get over that quickly.

The house switched back to fire, and started blasting burning furniture all over the ring once again. He instinctively looked at Aerith, but Zack easily had her covered. He had to deal with the root cause.

It charged at him once again, but this time Cloud was ready for it. He raced forward to meet it in the middle of the ring and swung the sword horizontally in its general direction. It bounced off, but he turned around with it to strike from the other direction instead. He could feel he was getting closer and closer to breaking through the barrier.

But unfortunately the house didn’t seem to be willing to give in that easily. It opened its door up once again, and Cloud felt his weight easily be picked up and dragged forward. But unlike poor Zack, he was prepared for it.

Cloud twisted in midair and planted his feet on either side of the door frame. He let the sword swing across once again, but the barrier was still holding on enough to prevent him from doing any real damage.

Cloud grit his teeth. He could feel his feet were either going to slip off the doorframe or break through it soon. That wouldn’t end well for him either way.

Suddenly ice was climbing up the side of the house, almost reaching his feet. The spell shattered violently under him and the door slammed shut. Cloud fell for a brief moment, but the instant his feet hit the ground he’d rocketed back up into the air again. He brought the sword up over his head and slammed it straight down, finally breaking through the barrier.

He left an ugly gash in the roof and front wall of the house before he was slammed back by another tornado. He rolled along the ground, trying not to slice his own leg off. Thankfully he came to a halt before that could happen.

When he looked up, it was turning on Zack and Aerith once again as if it’d decided its original strategy had been the best way to go. Zack was dragging her along by the hand, but Aerith was holding her side. Cloud hoped it was only a stitch and not an actual wound.

Zack paused to pick her up and put her over his shoulder, but the move gave the house enough time to catch up to them. A metallic head and arms emerged from somewhere, and rose as if about to strike down at them.

It was too late to cast another spell, and the elements he had access to weren’t going to help them now. Cloud rose up on his toes and lifted the sword overhead. He put as much force as he could behind the throw. The sword spun end over end before somehow actually slamming through the creature’s head, slicing a gash through it before embedding itself in the wall.

The whole house shuddered once again. Cloud started running over just in case, but if that hadn’t worked he knew he wouldn’t get there in time.

A split second later the house collapsed in on itself. The flames extinguished and it became still.

“We have our winners!” one of the announcers cried, and the entire stadium went wild.

With that indication the fight was over, Cloud relaxed a little. The burning inside him stopped abruptly. He felt kind of empty.

Cloud took half a step in Zack and Aerith’s direction before the ground suddenly came up to meet him and everything went dark.


	23. Chapter 23

Cloud groaned and blinked his eyes open. He realised he was lying in the recovery position on a square made up of training mats in the corner of one of the anterooms next to the coliseum. He tried to sit up, but the pain striking him between the eyes stopped him from getting very far.

“Hey, it’s ok. Just stay where you are,” Zack said from somewhere nearby.

Cloud tilted his head cautiously, and saw Zack was sitting next to him. He had one knee raised and his other foot tucked close to him. Cloud went to straighten his own leg, but soon realised he had… a problem.

“Stay still,” Zack said again. “It’s ok.”

Maybe what Zack was trying to say was that no one else could tell he had a raging hard on when he was lying in this position. He tried to look around the room without moving his head. He could see Aerith and who he assumed was Madam M talking over by the table.

Cloud raised an arm and buried his rapidly heating face under it. What the hell was wrong with him?

This seemed to be the wrong thing to do, though. Now he could hear footsteps approaching. He glanced up as Madam M knelt down beside him.

“Oh good, you’re all right,” she said, sounding sincere. “I was hoping this wouldn’t be a one off thing.”

“I don’t think any of us will be going anywhere near here again for a long time,” Zack replied. He leaned slightly closer to Cloud, almost protectively.

“Fair enough,” she said before pointing her fan in the direction of the table. “Thirty thousand in cash, as agreed. You need only come and see me when you need the rest. Though if you take too long I might start lending it out to other people. Small loans can be quite lucrative, you know.”

Cloud would have shaken his head if he wasn’t so worried about triggering another wave of pain. “As long as you don’t lose it all,” he muttered.

Madam M rose to her feet once again. Aerith stepped forward, and suddenly she was the unerring centre of Cloud’s attention. The want to get closer to her pulled at him.

“We want to do some work with the Leaf House orphanage. Buy some food and other items, and maybe extend the structure,” Aerith began hesitantly. “Do you know any suppliers or anyone we could talk to about something like that?”

Madam M looked thoughtful. “Perhaps. Let me get back to you on that. Though do keep in mind that buying up 200,000 gil’s worth of food is just going to put a dent in the supply available to everyone else. It won’t solve the underlying problem.”

“I understand,” Aerith replied softly. “I don’t suppose what we won tonight is enough to get us any farmland outside Midgar, though,” she joked.

Madam M gave a shrug before moving over to the door. “I’ll keep your room booked out to you, anyway. Do let me know before you go running off so I know when I can start hiring it out again,” she added. “Have a good night.”

Cloud raised a hand slightly, but his eyes were still fixed on Aerith. “Good night,” she said quietly.

He noticed Zack relax when the door swung shut. His legs shifted, and when Cloud glanced at him properly he realised Zack had been sporting the same problem this whole time.

“You want to calm down on the hype aura thing you keep putting out?” Zack said quietly.

“I can’t help it,” he muttered. “I didn’t even realise I was still…” He looked back at Aerith, who was now frowning down at him. He guessed she was worried that she might be triggering it, and what that could lead to.

He felt sick for a moment. He’d never, to anyone. But he’d also never been able to ignore the ‘protect Aerith’ instinct either.

“We’ll be fine,” Aerith said, though it sounded like she wasn’t sure either. “Just relax, take deep breaths?”

Zack glanced between them. He seemed to be mentally trying to fill in the gaps they were leaving. But before he could interrogate either of them about it, the door opened up once more.

Zack leapt to his feet, sword raised. Cloud squinted at the kid in the doorway, confused by both his presence and Zack’s reaction.

The boy sighed with relief. “There you are!” he said happily, seemingly unperturbed by the weapon pointing in his direction. “Don’t be alarmed, Hojo is already aware of where you are. My mission is just to collect data.” It clicked that this must be the kid Zack had mentioned seeing before.

“He _knows_?” Aerith demanded.

Zack looked back at Cloud over his shoulder. “We have to get out of here.”

The boy raised his hands placatingly. “No, I mean it! You’re not in danger of being taken anywhere right now. Observation probably isn’t such a bad thing when you’re still so unstable,” he added, nodding in Cloud’s direction.

“You know what’s wrong with him?” Zack asked cautiously.

The boy’s expression became more serious. “I have a hypothesis. Allow me to assess him properly, and I might be able to do something about it.”

“Do you know what they did to me?” Cloud interrupted.

“You’re part prototype to me, and part something I don’t have the clearance to access,” he replied promptly. “Although, I’m also a prototype to another project, so…”

Zack hesitantly lowered his sword again. The boy took it as an invitation to move closer.

“The Soldier projects were in danger of being scrapped for being too risky, and too wasteful. So many of the operatives defected, and those that didn’t are still in danger of either going mad or degrading. So Hojo started focusing on making a programmable Soldier.

“But you were considered a failure after you became comatose, Cloud. So he started using you to test other concepts too. Like pushing other operatives to do things on the field, seeing just how far the human body can be reinforced, and just what the maximum capacity for destructive power is.”

“D-did he intend to make us ‘breed’ as well?” Aerith asked hesitantly.

The boy nodded slowly. “Right, the guarding thing came from a whim. He was getting sick of relying on the Turks to protect and, er, collect you when needed. You’re more familiar than me with his stranger inclinations for getting more test subjects, surely.”

Aerith grimaced and shuddered a little. “Unfortunately,” she muttered.

The boy moved again, and Zack watched him like a hawk as he knelt next to Cloud. “Excuse me,” he said before reaching out to feel his pulse at his neck. He leaned over to look into his eyes carefully, and Cloud thought he saw something flicker across the lens over his eye. “Just as I thought,” he said before taking off his backpack.

He pulled out a little plastic box, out of which came a needle filled with what looked like mako. “Hey!” Zack warned, moving to take hold of his wrist.

“All this power doesn’t come from nowhere,” he said reasonably. “Cloud’s body is basically an extremely inefficient mako reactor at this point. Kind of like mine. He needs more fuel or he’ll shut down,” he finished simply.

“That, would explain a lot,” Cloud said quietly. “Do what you need to.”

Zack shifted uncomfortably, but he didn’t try to interrupt again.

“You won’t feel completely normal again,” Chadley warned as he positioned his arm for the injection into his bloodstream. “You had way too much in you before, I would say. Which is why your condition was so unstable for so long.”

Cloud grit his teeth when he felt the potent chemical start entering his system. The once repulsive stench had become normal to his senses at some point. Strangely he did start feeling better almost immediately. At least, he could sit up part way without his head exploding.

“I don’t know what kind of dosage is ideal for you, so we’ll leave it at that for now. You can contact me if you need any help getting back to normal.” The boy grimaced. “Hojo is rather interested in knowing that too.”

“Well Hojo can just fuck right off,” Zack muttered.

The boy didn’t reply to that. But Cloud got the impression that he at least partially agreed.

“So, if I was the pre-prototype, then what are you?”

“That is a good question. You can call me Chadley. Obviously the focus with me was intelligence, not combat,” he added lightly. But he seemed unwilling to go into any more detail than that. “Still, the three of you had better go back to wherever it is you’re staying while I’m not looking. You might have some unwanted visitors at some point, otherwise.”

Zack knelt down next to him, having put his sword on his back already. Cloud sat up and let Zack pull his arm across his shoulders. He might be glad for the support in a few steps.

The three of them made their way toward the door. Cloud hesitantly glanced back at Chadley, who still had his back to them.

“Oh, and just a warning. Your, er, problem might get worse before it gets better,” Chadley added quickly.

“Great,” Cloud muttered. Aerith laughed nervously.

Cloud left Zack to navigate the crowd between the arena and their hotel. It seemed they’d been down there long enough for anyone who might have recognised them to disperse. He just hoped no one was paying attention to the state he was in.

Once they had reached their floor of the hotel, Aerith looked around before going ahead to the door to their room and unlocking it. She held it open for them.

“I’m so tired,” she commented quietly as she closed it behind them. She looked down at her dirty hands and dress with a grimace.

“Bathroom is all yours,” Zack replied.

Cloud could tell Zack wanted to lead them over to the large bed, but he was more inclined to stew on his own for now. He gestured toward the other corner of the room with his head.

“I hope you feel better soon, Cloud,” Aerith said softly as she turned away to make her way over to the bathroom. He couldn’t help but watch her until she was out of sight behind the closed door.

Zack sighed and let him down to sit on the bed. He started removing Cloud’s armour, and he let him. “Why is Hojo such a creepy motherfucker,” Zack muttered. “Seriously?”

Cloud looked down and hunched his shoulders. “Sorry.”

“Not your fault,” Zack replied firmly as he reached for the hem of Cloud’s shirt. “Not like you actually jumped her or anything. If you’re a ‘failure’ in that department, it’s probably a good thing for us.”

Cloud was more worried that his behaviour had some kind of trigger that he wouldn’t be able to ignore. Like Hojo ordering him to do something. But it seemed Zack didn’t want to hear it right now.

Suddenly it occurred to Cloud that the reason Zack had taken hold of his shirt was that he wanted to take it off. “What are you doing?”

“Well if you’re not going to make this go away, we’re going to have to do something about it,” Zack said sheepishly. “Don’t know about you, but it’s starting to hurt.”

Cloud felt the heat cross his face and neck. “Oh, right. Sorry about that too.” He absently kicked his boots off. “This isn’t really how I wanted things to go.”

“Hey, you don’t actually have to do anything,” Zack said as he let go of his shirt. “I’m not trying to be pushy, but if we’ve both got the same problem then… might as well deal with it together?”

Cloud shook his head. “You’re right, it’s fine.”

He finished taking his shirt off and tossed it to the end of the bed. He noticed Zack was looking at him, and fought the instinct to cover himself. He’d seen it all before anyway. Even if that had been in a very different context.

He undid his belts and got his pants and underwear off. By the time he looked up again, Zack was doing the same. Cloud smiled slightly at how quickly he’d moved, and he gave a wide grin in return.

“Shit, I don’t know what I’m doing. But I’ll try to make it good,” Zack said quietly as he finished stripping off. He immediately climbed into Cloud’s lap and pressed them both back against the bed.

Cloud inhaled sharply as the second wind Chadley had alluded to hit him. Zack’s mouth landed on his, and he returned the kiss, rough and messy. Zack groaned and pressed even closer.

Zack certainly had more of a clue about how this was going to work than Cloud. At this point he honestly didn’t think Zack could do anything to make it _bad_.

But unlike the other two, he knew when it was better to keep his mouth shut.


	24. Chapter 24

When Zack stirred he realised the weight on his chest was Cloud’s head and arm. He knew he’d told himself to wake up in ten minutes instead of ten hours for a reason. It didn’t take him long to remember why that was.

The once sticky mess on his stomach had had enough time to dry now. It wasn’t exactly pleasant.

He glanced down at Cloud again, who had started to stir. He still had a streak of dust up one cheek from where he’d fallen face first into the coliseum’s floor. Zack was sure he wasn’t faring much better, and that combined with the awful smell of sweat wasn’t helping the situation.

“Let’s go get cleaned up,” Zack said quietly.

“I don’t want to move,” Cloud mumbled.

“You will when your nose wakes up.”

Cloud gave him a confused look, but Zack’s meaning seemed to dawn on him a few seconds later. “Gross.”

Zack could hear Aerith’s steady breaths from across the room, and guessed she had dropped into a deep sleep quickly after leaving the bathroom. He hoped she’d be feeling better in the morning. And that she wouldn’t be mad at him anymore.

He climbed out of bed and Cloud followed him closely, but he hesitated when he reached the edge of the privacy screen. Zack glanced up from where he was bending over to retrieve some clean underwear. He decided to grab a shirt as well, guessing Cloud would probably want it later.

“Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure she’s not going to wake up for anything any time soon.”

Zack crossed the room, and Cloud hurried along behind him. He stepped into the bathroom and immediately made his way over to the shower stall while Zack put their things down and made sure there were enough towels. They’d need to let someone come in here to clean the room sooner or later, but they didn’t know how trustworthy the staff were.

When Zack entered the stall as well, Cloud seemed surprised. But he appeared to reconsider his own reaction as he simply turned away and continued cleaning himself.

“You weren’t expecting me to wait my turn, were you?” Zack teased. He pointed at the mess on his stomach. “Come on, I know at least half of this is yours. Least you can do is help me get it off.”

Cloud rolled his eyes, apparently unwilling to give up the warm stream of water just yet. “What are you complaining about? It’s a good look,” he deadpanned.

Zack sniggered to himself. “Sounds like I’m rubbing off on you in more ways than one.”

Cloud didn’t seem to have a retort for that one. Instead he elected for some devastatingly effective silent treatment.

Eventually Zack did manage to coerce him into giving up the showerhead long enough to get the worst of the dirt and smell off. As they dried themselves, Cloud finally spoke again.

“Um, did that all go all right on your end? I feel like the only thing I had on my mind was myself,” Cloud admitted quietly.

“All good, we got me there in the end too,” Zack replied. “It’s not a transaction, you know.”

Cloud just shrugged as he pulled his shirt down. Zack moved closer so he could sling an arm around his shoulders and shake him a little.

“If it’s bothering you that much, you can get me next time,” Zack said lightly. The concept of there being a next time hadn’t seemed to occur to Cloud before now. “Gee, tell me there’s going to be a next time,” Zack teased.

“Well, obviously,” Cloud muttered. He moved over to the door before Zack could continue teasing him.

They both quietened down as they moved back into the main room. Zack automatically glanced in Aerith’s direction and saw she was still sleeping soundly. Cloud seemed surprised when he followed him back over to the other bed.

“I think this is the best she’s slept in a long time. I don’t want to risk disturbing her,” Zack explained.

Cloud climbed into bed, and Zack dropped down behind him. “You take up so much room,” Cloud grumbled.

“Aw, don’t be that way babe,” Zack replied as he plastered himself to Cloud’s back, wrapping his arms around him.

Cloud sighed, but put a hand over the one that had settled on his chest. “I can see why Aerith goes crook at you for calling her that all the time now.”

Zack snorted at the phrasing. It seemed Cloud couldn’t pretend he wasn’t from the boonies quite so well when he was tired.

“Maybe it’s not the word so much as the context it’s used in,” Cloud amended after a moment.

“Maybe,” Zack replied quietly.

Cloud squeezed his hand.

* * *

When she woke up, Aerith was lethargic. Her head didn’t feel that great. She sat up against the pillows as she tried to swallow, but her mouth was so dry. She didn’t know how long she had been asleep for, but she hadn’t expected to feel this much like rubbish.

She stretched her arms above her head, and somehow she wasn’t quite as sore as she’d been expecting. She looked up blearily when she heard footsteps approaching.

Zack gave her a sympathetic smile before putting the tray he was carrying down on the bedside table. He pressed a glass of water in her direction.

“Thanks,” she mumbled once she had taken a sip.

“You look wrecked,” he teased. “Even Cloud beat you out of bed this morning.”

“We can’t all be mako-enhanced badasses,” she mumbled. But she couldn’t help but glance around the room, looking for him. Everything that had happened last night had been… something.

“You’ll be fine,” Zack said, waving his hand. “Until tomorrow, when you’ll really start feeling it.” Aerith let out a small sigh. “I’d suggest you get up at some point today and do some stretches or something,” Zack added.

“Later,” Aerith mumbled as her stomach encouraged her to look at what else the tray held. She reached up to push her hair out of her eyes, only to find a tangled mess on the side of her head she’d been sleeping on. She grimaced and tried to get the worst of the knot out with her fingers.

When she glanced up again she noticed Cloud had given up on pretending to look busy stacking the dirty dishes the two of them had left, and was giving Zack a pointed look. He picked up the other stacked tray and left the room, probably returning it to the kitchen.

“What?” she asked Zack as he sat down on the bed next to her. She picked up the cup of fruit salad and started eating.

He circled his thumbs over each other a few times before seeming to settle on what to say. “I was telling Cloud about how we used to deal with being annoyed with each other. Apparently he doesn’t like the fact that I’d always just get put out on deployment long enough for us to forget about it by the time I got back.” He smiled at her sheepishly. “So, are you still mad?”

“Now that we’re stuck in the same hiding place, I don’t think that’s going to work this time,” she conceded. “Not that it was ever the best thing to do, probably.” She turned the spoon over in her hand as she stared down at her food. “I know it’s immature to say I told you so, but…”

Zack hung his head. “I know, I know. None of that weird shit would have happened if we hadn’t gone for it again.”

“Well, we did learn something important that we might not have otherwise. Some part of Shinra does know we’re here. And knowing more about Cloud’s condition can’t be a bad thing.”

“Still wish we knew more. But I can only assume it’s a good thing if he was considered enough of a failure to be kept shoved away in Nibelheim instead of transported back here,” Zack replied. “Are you ok after what happened?”

Aerith traced a finger over the bedcovers. “I trust him, but I don’t trust Hojo,” she eventually said. She didn’t think either of them could blame her for feeling nervous around him after that little lot. “I just hope the protect imperative is stronger than anything else.”

Zack chewed on his bottom lip as he considered this. “That’d make sense for Hojo’s purposes too, right? I think we’re fine there.”

The door opened behind them again and Cloud stepped inside. He avoided meeting Aerith’s eyes. She wondered if he had overheard some or all of their conversation on the way back. She noticed he was holding something in his hands.

“Someone delivered this to reception addressed to Zack,” he said quietly, frown staying in place.

“Uh, no one should know we’re here?” Zack replied as he scratched the back of his head. “Has someone else found us?”

He got to his feet, but Cloud held a hand up as if to stop him. “If it blows or something, I should be fine. But I doubt it’s anything all that serious,” he said as he turned the box around.

Aerith could see it had a clear top, and a stripe of red that marked it as strictly confidential. She sat up a little straighter when she realised why the way each of the pieces of paper inside were folded looked familiar. She climbed out of bed and trotted over, not having time to get embarrassed about the way her nightie had ridden up as she quickly straightened it again.

“H-hang on,” Cloud said as he moved the box behind himself.

“It was Tseng,” she said, trying to explain herself even as she was more focused on the object. She didn’t really want Zack to go through the letters anymore. Seeing them all at once would be like reading her diary or something. And not all of them were particularly nice to read, since at one point she had thought he was receiving the letters but not replying. “I asked him to deliver some letters I sent, but obviously he hasn’t managed to locate Zack until now. I just, let me see.”

“Tseng? It should be fine, then,” Zack said. “It might be bugged or something, but I don’t think it’d be rigged to hurt anyone physically.”

Cloud hesitated, and Aerith took the opportunity to reach behind him and snatch the box out of his hand. She held it to her chest so that the contents would be hidden from view.

“How many did you write for him to need a box that big?”

Aerith shrugged, though of course she knew the exact number. Including the one that had never made it into this box. “I guess he was trying to save face by not admitting that he had no clue where you were.”

“At least forty,” Cloud commented quietly. He looked affronted when Aerith stepped on his foot.

“Look, I won’t ask if you really don’t want me to know,” Zack assured her quickly, though she could see his curiosity was killing him.

“Why don’t you just be upfront about it?” Cloud asked. “I know I’m not one to talk, but isn’t that better than keeping whatever pain you experienced to yourself?”

Aerith squeezed the box a little closer, the flimsy cardboard on the bottom distorting a little. “Because I don’t want people to feel bad for things that aren’t their fault.”

Cloud looked away from her. He seemed to understand that she was talking about him and more recent events as well.

He raised his hands as he walked over to the privacy screen. “Fine, I’ll mind my own business then.”

Zack’s eyes flicked between them almost helplessly. She knew he hated being involved in personal conflict, but watching other people fight could only be worse.

“Come on,” he said eventually. “You should finish eating before all that food goes bad.”

She nodded and turned away to stuff the package in the bottom of her suitcase. She didn’t know whether she wanted to keep it or burn it up yet. But one of those things was irreversible.

“Ok,” she agreed quietly.


	25. Chapter 25

Hojo compared the data analysis model he had on his experiments’ performances to those that demonstrated what the original intention behind them had been. The Soldier had not changed significantly, as he’d expected. Though the fact its power had seemingly been maintained after more than four years of inactivity was certainly an interesting outcome.

It did also appear to react to the other’s call to action just fine. So surely that meant the infantryman could have a similar effect on any of the remaining Soldier operatives. Unfortunately the President had outright banned the creation of an actual hive mind right before approving the development of machinery that could do the same job.

Too bad machines couldn’t imitate everything a specimen was capable of. If they wanted insurance against the Ancient going extinct, he was going to have to make use of the ones that already existed.

Hojo turned his attention to another area of the analysis. The original problem that had caused him to deem the infantryman a failure was still persisting. It was burning through mako and poisoning itself as quickly as ever. Being more conservative with its magic use would certainly delay that. But perhaps there was something more the Ancient could do to help with that.

Inevitably he would need to retrieve his specimens and bring them back to the main lab, but he knew capturing them would not be a simple matter. Incapacitating both of the Soldiers at the same time wouldn’t be easy. But it was certainly not impossible, as he had recently seen.

Hojo withdrew his phone from inside his coat. He frowned slightly. He would have to schedule in time to shower soon, but there were so many other things that required his attention.

“Tseng,” came the familiar response after only the second ring.

“We need to orchestrate a delicate extraction,” he replied immediately. “My specimens must be brought in as soon as my laboratory preparations are complete.”

Of course it would be difficult to find a container capable of holding the infantryman. But it was likely he could be incapacitated in other ways. Getting hold of the necessary materials could take a little time.

“The three of them?” the Turk prompted when he didn’t continue.

“I suppose there’s no harm in bringing the Soldier in too, though it’s not strictly necessary if it needs to be removed.”

He heard a creak, something like leather on plastic. “Hm,” the Turk responded, seemingly struggling to sound neutral.

The response was certainly interesting to note. He wondered if the relationship went both ways, and whether it could be useful.

“I trust you have enough intelligence to lure them into a fight they cannot win, without harming the Ancient.”

“We will commence preparations.”

Hojo nodded, satisfied for now. He hung up the phone and put it back into the same pocket of his coat as always. The blasted thing had a habit of going missing, otherwise.

Shinra may not have its conventional presence in Wall Market, which was undoubtedly part of what had attracted the three to such a dreadful place. But there was no part of Midgar that the company didn’t have some kind of a stranglehold on.

Things would soon become most interesting. But in the meantime, he had other projects that required his attention. And perhaps this one could help him control the infantryman, should things ever get out of hand inside the lab.

Hojo laughed to himself as he moved out of his office and back into the lab proper. Most interesting indeed.

* * *

Cloud squinted down at the last row he’d crocheted before turning his attention back to the pattern instructions. This didn’t make any sense at all. He could tell he’d done _something_ wrong, he just couldn’t work out what or where the problem was.

He sighed as he undid the last two rows so he could try again. For a moment he was tempted to undo the whole thing and forget it, but he hadn’t come up with a better idea for a gift yet.

“You’ll get there,” Zack said suddenly, making Cloud jump. He’d been leaning back against the taller man for a while now, but had thought he’d fallen asleep ages ago. Zack patted his head and Cloud rolled his eyes.

“Not anytime this year, though,” he muttered. He put the work back in its bag and put it aside for the night.

“Just gonna have to tell Tifa to be patient, then,” Zack joked as he took the opportunity to wrap his arms around Cloud and pull him back in.

The moment Cloud exhaled and relaxed against him, he was tensing again at the sound of Aerith’s voice. “Zack!”

Zack sat up, suddenly looking fully alert again. “Sorry,” he said quietly, but Cloud was already moving out the way. “Yeah?” he called back as he made his way over to the bathroom door.

“Can you help me with my hair?” Aerith asked at a more normal volume, but there wasn’t much Cloud could do to avoid listening to them. “My arms are still sore…”

“Uh, sure. But maybe I’m remembering wrong. Wasn’t there a time when you said you’d never let me touch your hair again?”

“Oh yeah,” Aerith said quietly, the memory seemingly coming back to her. “Now I remember where that bald spot came from.”

“There isn’t and never was any bald spot!” Zack loudly insisted.

“Sure felt like one,” Aerith teased. There was a quiet thud and Cloud guessed she had hit him with her hairbrush. “But seems like it’s either that or have an even knottier mess to deal with in the morning.”

There was a pause before Zack stuck his head out the bathroom doorway again. “Cloud, you know anything about long hair?”

He hesitated to answer. He did, but it was possible Aerith wouldn’t want him nearby for that long. “Sort of?”

Cloud got up so he wouldn’t have to continue trying to call out to them from across the room. “What does ‘sort of’ mean?” Aerith asked cautiously, though probably not for the reason Cloud had assumed she would.

“If I’d dared to pull any of Tifa’s hair out she would have knocked me the fuck out,” Cloud said blandly.

Of course he’d only been lightly bullied into doing that a few times, back when Tifa had broken her arm during training that one time. But soon after that he’d also tried growing his own out, to mixed results.

Aerith giggled. “Well, all right then. Sounds like you’re hired.”

He looked around for a moment and grabbed the stools from the sitting area. Considering how much hair Aerith had, this was probably going to take a while. Zack stepped out of his way when he came back to deposit them near the sink. He gave him an odd smile before leaving the room.

Aerith sat down on the stool in front of the mirror. She had already changed into her nightgown and had a towel over her shoulders and back, wet hair resting on top of it. He noticed her hair was also kind of curly. He hoped it wouldn’t cause any problems.

“Ok, you’re up,” Aerith teased as she handed him the brush over her shoulder, wincing slightly as the move didn’t seem to be appreciated by her tired muscles.

He hesitated for a moment before deciding to start from the bottom. He took hold of some of her hair a little further up so it wouldn’t pull at her scalp, and carefully started trying to work them out.

Aerith seemed to relax a little at the evidence that he kind of knew what he was doing. “So, what’s the story behind this one, huh?”

Cloud made a soft sound of amusement. Her eyes met his in the mirror, looking a little surprised. “At one time in my life I thought growing my hair out was a great idea. Unfortunately it’s kind of hard to maintain in the army. Especially when you’re tired of people… making comments.”

Aerith nodded sympathetically, then stilled when she realised she wasn’t making his job any easier. “Well, there’s nothing wrong with having different interests,” she said.

Cloud shrugged slightly, looking away from the mirror. “It’s not so easy to believe that when you’re fourteen, which was when I moved out here.”

Aerith folded her arms and looked thoughtful. “That’s so young! What did your parents say?”

“My mum probably would have preferred me to stay in town and learn a trade, but she respected my decision once I’d made it.” He felt his shoulders rise a little at the hint of old embarrassment. “I told her I was coming to town for the infantry salary though, not to try and become a Soldier.”

Aerith still looked disbelieving. She shook her head a little. “My mum barely let me out of her sight at that age. I still live with her, you know? Or I guess I did, until this extended… outing?”

Cloud noticed Aerith had carefully avoided any mention of a father. He guessed her situation was similar to his. Didn’t know and didn’t care about his identity. That was one good thing about looking exactly like his mother, he supposed.

He looked at his work so far and decided to move to a higher section. But he was still brushing far below her shoulders. He was a little curious about how Aerith managed her hair on her own, on a normal basis, now.

“Did you get a chance to see her before coming here?” Aerith asked quietly.

Cloud’s hand came to a halt. Of course Aerith had no idea what had happened to them, just that they had both been out of commission for near on five years. But she seemed to have worked out that she had said something wrong.

“W-when the town was burnt to the ground, Sephiroth killed…” He bit his lip, then tried to swallow. “Well, he killed most of the town. Including her, I assume.”

“Oh,” she replied quietly. She brought her hands together in front of her chest and closed her eyes. She remained silent for a long time.

“What is it?”

“I’m talking to the Planet,” she replied, as though that explained everything.

“…What?”

“Well, I knew Zack wasn’t dead because I could tell he hadn’t returned to the Planet in any way, shape or form. Maybe I can work out what happened to her, and if she has passed away, whether she’s at rest. But since I didn’t know her personally, it could take a while to figure out.”

Cloud kept his focus on the task at hand. He doubted Sephiroth was the type to claim something like that without actually having done it, so he knew better than to become optimistic. But if there could never be a burial site, some other confirmation that she had moved on could be nice.

“Right. All that have something to do with being an Ancient?”

She nodded once again before remembering that she should be trying to keep her head still. “‘Ancient’ is Shinra’s name for us. My mother, by blood I mean, always referred to us as Cetra.”

Of course, Aerith being the last of her kind had to mean only her adoptive parent was still alive. For some reason that hadn’t clicked before now.

“Right. And if you really are the last of them, I guess that explains what Hojo did, or tried to do, to me.” He’d known they wouldn’t get through this without circling back to that topic. Cloud guessed Zack had assumed that too. He was being surprisingly quiet considering he was only an open door away.

“I don’t blame you, you know? And I had wondered if this would be part of it, back when we first met. It was just a bit of a shock to see the evidence of that kind of meddling, I guess.”

Cloud made a noncommittal sound and started making longer strokes with the brush now that she was mostly knot free and significantly drier than before. If their positions were reversed, he’d have found it disturbing too.

“I honestly don’t think Hojo can make you do anything you don’t want to. You just have to tell him to stick it,” she added. In between brushstrokes she turned around on her seat and grabbed his shoulders.

Cloud wished he could be as confident in his own mental fortitude. “I hope you’re right.”

“I’m always right,” she teased, then raised her voice a little and added, “Just ask Zack!”

“Uh, yep, that’s Aerith ‘Always Right’ Gainsborough for ya,” he called back.

“So, enough sitting around here in each other’s personal space! Let’s do something you want to do tomorrow. Ok?”

“Sure?” Cloud agreed, but he got the feeling Aerith already had some kind of plan.

The smile she gave him seemed to say that if she didn’t, she soon would.


	26. Chapter 26

Zack could tell Cloud was confused. Honestly, he was as well. But this was probably the only thing Aerith had been able to find in town that didn’t involve some combination of sex, alcohol, and violence.

“A gym?” Cloud asked as he looked up at the sign above the door.

“I thought it might be fun,” Aerith said quickly, trying to seem upbeat but mostly sounding unsure.

Cloud rolled his eyes and turned to look back at her, about to say something. But he seemed to change his mind at the last minute. “May as well have a look now that we’re here.”

Aerith smiled brightly at him before pushing at both of their backs to make them go on ahead. Zack felt his brows rise as he took in the boxing rings and weights racks. It was pretty well kitted out for something in the slums. Whoever ran this place must love it enough to stay down here instead of moving up to the plate.

In one of the rings he could see a pair of guys shaping up against each other. He was surprised when instead of exchanging blows, they suddenly turned away from each other and started madly doing squats. A cacophony of encouragement started ringing out from the spectators, the most enthusiastic seeming to come from the guy holding the timer.

Zack couldn’t help but wander over to get a closer look. He smiled a little as he remembered the time he’d whipped everyone on the Soldier floor’s butts in the squats portion of the fitness test. It was one of the few things from that time in his life that he could still think back on fondly.

No one seemed to notice they had joined the crowd until the contest was up, the winner had been cheered for, and the loser had been encouraged. After that one of the muscleheads turned around to look at him. The rest soon followed suit.

“You want to go next?” he demanded.

“Hey, aren’t they the Coliseum champs?” another guy asked suddenly.

Zack glanced back at Cloud and Aerith. If they’d already been recognised, maybe this wasn’t such a great idea. But the general reaction seemed positive overall.

A few of the guys in the back started talking to each other excitedly. “Didn’t you see the way the blond guy tossed the sword? So strong!”

The musclehead who’d originally started talking to them turned back with a haughty expression. “What are you talking about? He’s so tiny!”

Zack could swear he felt the way Cloud narrowed his eyes even before he’d looked back at him. It seemed Zack would have to wait his turn.

“Well it should be easy for you then, shouldn’t it?” Cloud said sharply, gesturing at the ring. Aerith laughed nervously as the other guy puffed his chest out and headed over as suggested.

Not one to waste an opportunity, Zack grinned to himself before following Cloud up into the ring. He gave him a questioning look, and Zack stepped around him to jump up on his back.

Cloud automatically bent over from the awkwardness of trying to give someone so much taller than him a piggyback ride, not to mention the sword on Zack’s back, but of course the weight didn’t affect him that much. “Hey, you’ve gotta make it fair,” Zack insisted as he patted his head.

Cloud sighed, but simply jostled him into a more comfortable position on his back. The ease with which he moved him around gave Zack an odd feeling. He turned his face into the back of his head a little more.

“What is this?” their opponent demanded.

“Don’t even bother trying to make him move,” Cloud replied flatly. Zack grinned at the guy and he rolled his eyes.

“Fine, don’t expect me to go easy.”

One of the spectators gave the signal, and Cloud started squatting in the best form he could manage. All in all it wasn’t bad, proving he had worked hard even before his enhancements.

Zack looked around when he heard Aerith giggling. She had somehow managed to convince someone to get her a chair to sit on, and was now laughing into her hands. Zack raised a hand to wave at her and Cloud huffed with impatience as he had to adjust to the shift in his weight.

But Zack wasn’t too concerned. He was clearly creaming the guy.

His eyes couldn’t help but be drawn back to the gym entrance. Someone was standing there in a complicated white gown and fluffy boa. Although their hair was in a beehive updo and their face was bright with exaggerated makeup, they had made no effort to hide how jacked their arms and chest were.

“Jules, look at this guy!” the man holding the timer said excitedly. “Fifteen seconds left, you two,” he added.

Their opponent growled and sacrificed his form to pick up his pace, but Cloud had been going like a machine from the start so Zack didn’t think it was going to make much difference. The person in the dress glided over to them, and surprisingly few heads turned in their direction.

“Sorry I’m late, you know how Andrea gets,” Jules replied, eyes tracking the contest carefully. “Don’t get lazy with that form!” But their opponent only had time to throw a guilty look over his shoulder before the end of the contest was declared.

“Woohoo, away team wins!” Aerith cheered.

Zack ruffled Cloud’s hair, and soon found himself on his ass in the middle of the ring. Cloud hopped over the ropes and went to stand next to Aerith. The person who had just entered the room joined them. Zack could hear them talking as he made his way over too.

“Did they say your name is Jules?” Aerith asked, barely waiting for a nod in reply before continuing. “Well it’s nice to meet you! That old man from the dress shop across the way assumed we knew you for some reason. Is that what you were waiting for?”

“Hah, interesting! Yes, I occasionally do shows at the Honeybee. I don’t normally run around town like this, but I was late to my boys’ contest.”

“You made it in time, big bro! We were just warming up!” one of the others insisted.

“Even better, then!” Jules said with a hearty laugh. “But it looks like you have some serious competitors this time.”

“We were just messing around,” Cloud said quickly as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“ _You_ were just messing around,” Zack corrected. “I’m game!”

“Perfect!” Jules replied. “As always, we have champion belts for anyone who can beat me. You’ll just have to give me some time to get changed first, of course.”

It had been a long time since Zack had felt this excited or energetic about anything. He turned back to his partners. Aerith’s hand was partially covering her amused smile. Cloud had his arms folded, but it looked like he didn’t intend to go anywhere anytime soon.

He was going to take that as permission to go and have some real fun.

* * *

Tseng massaged his forehead while he waited for Corneo’s contact to return from the bathroom. The meeting room was as painfully gaudy as the man who owned it. He wasn’t used to dealing with these people personally, and it showed in how much he felt like they weren’t getting anywhere.

Tseng turned his head sharply when he heard the chair next to him squeak once again. Reno was spinning around on it at breakneck speed, looking strangely pleased with himself. He was still dressed in his jeans and plain shirt from when he’d walked through town to make the delivery. But it wasn’t just the clothes, his usually relaxed demeanour became even more so when he wasn’t in the suit.

“Reno,” Tseng said, sharp but quiet.

Reno stuck his legs out so he’d slow down. “Yo?” He awkwardly looked at him over his shoulder as the chair kept moving.

“What do you think of this?”

“Me?”

“This is your home turf, isn’t it?”

At that, Reno did slow to complete stop. “Well, kinda,” he admitted as he tried to sit up a little straighter. But his hands inevitably returned to his pockets. “I think the room is probably bugged. But I guess that doesn’t matter. It’s obvious they’re trying to be obtuse, right?”

The current deal consisted of a coliseum match with the lure being a sizeable sum of money. But of course Zack and the others had only just achieved a similar feat, so it was unlikely to be effective. Still, it was difficult to be annoyed with them when some part of him also wanted to be obstructive.

Tseng gave him a curt nod, but didn’t say anything more. If the room was indeed bugged, he didn’t want to give away any more of his own thought process.

As expected, Rhodea returned to the room when it became clear that they were going to remain silent. “Excuse my absence, I just received a call from a colleague,” he explained smoothly. “She has suggested an exhibition match between the three in question and a diplomat that is visiting from Wutai. It could start like a bit of silly fun for a good cause and grow from there.”

Tseng hummed. “Are you sure that’s going to be good enough to guarantee their participation?”

Rhodea leaned back in his seat and parted his hands. “Only one way to find out.”

* * *

Cloud started when Zack bounded over to him and shoved the champion belt in his face. “Look!”

“I’m looking,” Cloud replied, leaning back a little. It’d be hard to actually see it otherwise.

Zack was more or less bouncing on the balls of his feet, grinning at him. Cloud supposed he should be grateful that the hype aura thing didn’t go both ways. But it was kind of nice to see him like this. He’d heard he’d acted like this all the time back when he was a second, but hadn’t seen much of it for himself.

“Aww, good boy,” Aerith teased, sounding like she was talking to a dog or something. “I’ll give you a tummy rub later.”

“Sh-shut up,” Zack muttered as the colour rose in his face. She just laughed at him.

“So, did everyone have fun? Ready to go back?” Aerith asked, and Zack nodded in response.

Cloud looked over his shoulder, back at the group of gym ‘bros’. Jules had changed into attire more appropriate for exercise a while ago now. But his entrance had made quite the impression on him.

“Got something you want to ask Jules?” Aerith added, failing to look innocent.

“No,” he replied sharply as he turned away and headed for the door.

“Are you sure?” she persisted even as they followed him out.

He raised his hands. “Who wants to look that… loud?” he asked, trying to find the right word.

Aerith giggled and took hold of his elbow. “No one said you have to go full drag queen.”

Cloud rolled his eyes. Maybe if he didn’t respond, she’d stop making fun of him. He looked back to make sure Zack had followed them out, since he was being oddly quiet.

Zack was looking at him thoughtfully. When he noticed Cloud looking back, he smiled at him. “If you’re shy about it you could just wear one of Aerith’s in our room.”

Cloud didn’t realise the distaste had made its way onto his face until Aerith smacked his arm. “What’s that look for?” she demanded.

“I didn’t say anything,” Cloud defended himself, raising an arm slightly to fend her off. He couldn’t help the half smile that crossed his face at her apparent irritation. “But pink really isn’t my colour.” He didn’t need to mention the size issue, but that wasn’t the problem here, was it?

Or was it?


	27. Chapter 27

Cloud let out a soft sigh as he sank into the hot water a little further. He didn’t know why he hadn’t spent more time enjoying the fact he had access to a full length tub. He hadn’t had a proper bath since he’d lived at home.

The only issue he’d found was that the bathroom walls weren’t nearly enough to block out the sound of Zack and Aerith teasing each other. The way sound carried was something they should all be aware of by now, so he wasn’t sure what their excuse was. Then again, he could hardly begrudge them after what he’d done to Zack the other night.

“Zack, I have my period,” Aerith’s slightly muffled voice admonished.

“Aerith, when has that ever stopped me?”

For a moment Cloud considered sinking into the water even further. But eventually he decided that he didn’t actually want to drown himself.

“Well, you didn’t always have a choice back then,” Aerith mumbled. “We could only do things when you weren’t on deployment, so…”

“Right, so I’m used to it now and won’t be dumb enough to pass up the opportunity again,” he replied brightly. “Not like it tastes that bad.”

Cloud really hadn’t been expecting to overhear that flavour of TMI. “I can hear you, you know,” he said, knowing there was no need to bother raising his voice.

“Cloud says he can hear us,” Zack reported cheerfully.

“Sorry,” Aerith called back, but she didn’t sound all that apologetic. It had been weeks since the last time the two of them had been together, and years before that.

“Just tell me when you’re done,” he muttered.

“Oh, you’ll be the first to know,” Zack replied. Then he added, seemingly to Aerith, “Don’t worry about it, he can suck it up for a bit.”

A moment later Aerith sighed with pleasure, and it seemed her worries had been allayed for now. Cloud rested an arm on the lip of the bath and leaned his head against it. He knew blocking his ears wouldn’t help in the slightest, but closing his eyes was definitely a mistake.

Even as he murmured against her quietly, Zack’s voice was as deep and almost as strained as it had been the other night. Cloud let his legs drift apart a little as the memory stirred something in him. When Aerith moaned quietly, it certainly didn’t do anything to stop his body reacting.

Was that something he could blame on Hojo, or would he have reacted that way to her eventually anyway?

Either way, this was between the two of them and had nothing to do with him. Though he had to admit he was surprised by how unbothered he was by the thought of the two of them together. But if anyone was the intruder in this relationship, he supposed it was him.

Cloud reached out for the bath cover and pulled it back across part way. He was obviously going to be in here for a while, possibly longer than the water would stay warm otherwise.

When he finally heard what had to be the two of them finishing, Cloud could feel his face was burning. But all too soon it seemed they had recovered, and were talking as though nothing had happened.

“We made such a mess,” Aerith said softly.

“It’s all on the towel,” Zack assured her.

“And on your face. Don’t kiss me!”

Cloud massaged his forehead. It sounded like it was time for him to move.

He climbed out of the bath and pulled the cover right up so they could use it after they’d showered, if they wanted. He grabbed a towel and hastily dried himself off. He had time to get his bedclothes on before there was a knock at the door.

“Hey, can you close your eyes while we get in the shower?” Zack called. Aerith gave a little giggle.

“Yeah,” Cloud replied as he put the towel over his head and focused on drying his hair. He was over by the sink, facing away from the door and shower cubicle, so Aerith should be comfortable enough.

Once he heard the shower turn on, Cloud hung the towel back up and moved into the other room. He frowned when he heard his phone was ringing. The caller ID was displaying a landline number, and he’d only seen one of those lately.

“What?”

“Is that any way to greet a friend?” Madam M said lightly, but he heard the fan flick open sharply. He knew her pleasant demeanour would only last so long.

“Is that what we are?” Cloud asked flatly as he sat down on the bed.

“Don’t be that way, darling,” she simpered, before getting down to business. “I might have another job for the three of you.”

“Not interested,” Cloud said immediately. Whatever the job and whatever the pay, it wasn’t worth it now. And he doubted she’d try to withhold what they had already earnt.

“Oh come on, you haven’t even let me pitch it to you yet.” Cloud didn’t get a chance to tell her not to bother. “The rest of Midgar needs to show Wutai we aren’t interested in continuing the war, even if Shinra and their propaganda machine are. This is much more important than winning bets against insufferable exes.”

Cloud glanced in the direction of his phone, confused by her final venomous sentence. “How are either of those things my problem?” he asked, trying to keep the conversation on track.

“You two fought in the war, didn’t you?” she snapped. “Some of us want to be able to visit home again in their lifetime.”

Of course Cloud hadn’t. All that had been well and truly over with by the time he’d even rocked up in Midgar. But it was undoubtedly one of the many things Zack regretted doing at Shinra’s whim.

Madam M somehow sensed he wasn’t going to be receptive to being guilt tripped. She cleared her throat and started reading what sounded like a battle report.

“Second class Fair deployed to Fort Tamblin. Singlehandedly cut down over fifty Wutai troops including several members of the elite Crescent Unit. Suspected to have had an encounter with a young Miss Kisara—”

Cloud sighed through his nose. “You aren’t going to let this rest, are you?” And Zack probably wouldn’t either, when he caught wind of it.

“I acquired his contact details as well,” Madam M replied pleasantly.

Cloud remained silent for a long time, but it would probably be better if he was the one to say something first. “I’ll talk to them.”

Madam M made a sound of amusement. “I’ll forward you the meeting details,” she added before hanging up.

* * *

The moment she’d come to a full understanding of the situation, Aerith had just known there was no way Zack was going to turn them down. And she and Cloud could hardly leave him to do it alone.

She glanced at Cloud, who frowned back at her. Clearly he wasn’t amused by the tactics Madam M and Andrea had used to get them to this point. She didn’t like to see Zack upset either, but maybe a chance to assuage some of his guilt over being a Shinra lackey for most of his life wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

“But it isn’t all about the fight this time,” Andrea continued in his soft yet somehow still dramatic tone. “That is a mere excuse, a backdrop, to allow us to engage the audience and put on a show!”

Zack was gripping the edges of his seat, leaning in slightly to listen attentively. Cloud folded his arms, probably struggling to resist rolling his eyes. Aerith rested a hand against Zack’s forearm and he seemed to relax a little.

“Costumes, drama… And of course, a satisfying resolution,” Andrea finished softly. Aerith could hear the wink in his voice.

“That sounds like a lot,” Zack replied stiffly. “Hitting things good is all I know,” he added, though his tone didn’t quite make it around to joking.

“Evidently,” Madam M muttered under her breath. Aerith narrowed her eyes at her.

“What about the other party in all of this?” Cloud interrupted. “Is Wutai even on board with this? I doubt they’d want to risk their ambassador or culture being mocked.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Madam M replied. “The ticket sales will raise funds to help affected areas, and the event itself will raise the country’s profile as a tourist destination. Our guest is high profile, yet young enough to engage in shenanigans.” She tapped her fan against her hand. “Besides, you three will be throwing the match in the end.”

“That makes more sense. So no bets will be placed?” Cloud asked quietly.

Madam M smiled. “Not _officially_ , but who would bet against the crowd favourites? Could be an opportunity…”

This time it was Aerith’s turn to resist rolling her eyes. Politics aside, that sounded like her true motivation.

Andrea waved a hand, seemingly uninterested. “There won’t be a crowd without an attraction. Let us talk story, set, and costuming.”

“I really don’t think people go to your shows for the plot, dear,” Madam M said quietly, but Andrea ignored her.

“The glamorous champion of Wutai takes on…” he trailed off and looked the three of them over. “Hmm.”

Aerith ran her hands over her skirt self-consciously. “What?”

“While there is something endearing about a ragtag group of fighters, I think we can try for a more flattering look. This is a different kind of entertainment.”

Andrea began to circle them where they were seated, and Aerith had to resist turning her head to follow him. Every now and then he’d pause and making a humming sound to himself. Eventually he returned to his seat and crossed his legs gracefully.

“I have a few ideas,” Andrea announced. “You will come have your clothes tailored tomorrow night, and then everything will be ready for the show in a few days’ time!”

Aerith shared an uncertain look with Cloud. Who knew what that would actually mean?

“Right,” Zack agreed with a short nod. Finally he turned back to look at them, and raised an eyebrow when he saw how much they didn’t share his enthusiasm. “What?”

Aerith made a sound of amusement and waved her hand slightly. “Later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know why my brain insisted on writing Andrea Rhodea like this… But of course he’s going to introduce Midgar to pro wrestling XD


	28. Chapter 28

“Why do I look like a Turk?” Zack complained as he twisted around to look at himself in the full length mirror. So the suit might be made of silk instead of the hardy material preferred by that particular organisation, but that didn’t mean the resemblance wasn’t there.

Zack tried to loosen off the tie a bit, but the man who had dressed him immediately smacked the back of his hand. He could see Aerith’s reflection was trying not to laugh. He tried not to stare at the part of her thigh that was peeking out of the gathered pink skirt of her dress. It was pinned in place for the moment, ready to be sewn into the desired placement.

“It’s got to be better than trying to fight in an evening gown,” Aerith replied as she rotated a little, looking at herself from a different angle.

Zack plucked at the tailored pants. “Given how tight these seams are, I’m not so sure about that.”

“Hmm, you’re just not used to wearing them yet,” Aerith replied as she gave him a thoughtful once over. “I think they suit you,” she declared, then pinched his butt.

“Hey! Hands off, lady,” Zack joked even as his face turned red. Aerith smirked at him knowingly, but didn’t get a chance to keep mocking him.

“What is that?” Cloud’s slightly muffled voice demanded from behind the changing room curtain. He didn’t sound impressed in the slightest.

“Cute,” Andrea replied, undoubtedly purposefully missing the point of his question.

“I am not wearing that in public!”

Zack raised an eyebrow at Aerith. It was unusual for Cloud to raise his voice even that much. He wondered whether he should tell Andrea to back off on whatever his ‘vision’ had led him to choose out of his wardrobe. Given the kinds of things that went on at the Honeybee, it could be any level of uncomfortably immodest for Cloud.

“So it would be fine for a more private setting? That is, you don’t have a problem with the fact it’s a dress?” Andrea clarified.

“That’s… not what I said,” Cloud mumbled. “But people already know my face around here. I’ll be recognised by someone no matter what you do.”

“Is that your concern?” Andrea asked, but this time his tone was different. More gentle, and possibly concerned. “You don’t have to be ashamed of the ways you choose to present yourself.”

“I’m not,” Cloud replied without much conviction. “But you’ll never get me into a skirt that short.”

Zack felt his eyes widen of their own accord, and had to tell his imagination to behave itself. Still, he noticed every rustle of clothing as Andrea put aside whatever it was he’d picked up. Aerith nudged her elbow into his side and rolled her eyes at him.

“A longer skirt would be a pain to manage for someone who isn’t used to having one,” Andrea explained. It seemed his choice had had some kind of logic behind it after all.

“Well, can’t you just make it so I can push it out the way when needed?”

“I know someone who might appreciate the design challenge,” Andrea conceded. “But there isn’t much time. We’ll have to make alterations to an existing garment.” Zack heard more rustling of fabric.

“I wonder if he means the old man who owns the dress shop near the hotel?” Aerith said quietly.

Zack gave her a slight frown and tilted his head. “Wait a sec, _that’s_ where you two disappeared to the other day?”

Aerith brought a hand to her mouth and laughed quietly. “Why are you surprised?”

“I’m not wearing a corset to a fight,” Cloud insisted, making Zack forget whatever he’d been about to ask. “I need to be able to breathe.”

“But the blue is perfect…” Andrea trailed off for a moment, then sighed. “All right, fine. But I don’t have anything else with a full skirt. We can do something below the knees still, but you’ll need stockings.”

“Oh my god, just make a decision already,” Zack called teasingly, but mostly he just wanted to make sure Cloud was doing all right. “It’ll look fine either way.”

Cloud fell silent, seeming to remember that both of them could hear him even if they couldn’t see him. “These things take time,” Andrea snapped, unusually harsh.

One of the Honeyboys returned and gestured at Aerith’s skirt. “I can finish altering that while we’re waiting,” he said.

Aerith nodded and disappeared into another changing room. Zack sat down in one of the chairs placed along the back wall, resigned to the fact he was going to have to wait this one out. But at least he wasn’t the one Andrea wanted to put in a dress. Cloud could do whatever he wanted, but Zack couldn’t say he had any interest in doing the same.

Not in public, anyway.

When Cloud finally emerged from the changing room, Zack was surprised to see he was wearing his normal clothes. But Andrea was holding something black and ruffled under one of his arms, and a small duffle bag on the other.

Zack stood, then tilted his head when Cloud continued avoiding his gaze. “Let’s go,” he muttered before making a beeline for the door.

“Wait up,” Aerith said as she followed him, now back in her normal clothes as well.

Andrea cut Zack off before he could follow them. “Jacket,” he said as he held out a hand. “I’m going to put a design on it after all.”

“Uh, ok,” Zack replied as he shrugged it off his shoulders, readjusting the suspenders he wasn’t used to wearing slightly. As he handed it over, Andrea let the bag fall down his forearm and land in Zack’s now empty hand.

“Cloud may want that at a later date,” he added vaguely before turning back to the work bench with their garments in hand.

“See you later,” Zack added awkwardly before leaving. It seemed they were done for now.

He couldn’t help but be nosy and raise the flap on the bag for a second. It was hard to make sense of the bundle of red tartan, black nylon and lace, but he thought he could guess.

Zack smiled grimly to himself as he hurried to catch up with the other two. Andrea had been smart.

If he was the one to hand this over, all Cloud’s potential wrath would be directed at him instead.

* * *

Zack woke slowly, but tried not to still unnaturally when he realised why. Someone was moving around their room. Someone he could only tell was there because their breathing had altered the soft background noise in the room enough for him to notice.

He knew grabbing his sword wouldn’t be the best idea right now. The scrape of metal along the ground would be far too loud, and probably give them enough warning to disappear before he got close.

Zack rolled out of bed as silently as he could manage, which thankfully seemed to be enough. He stayed low and crept around the edge of the bed, trying to get a better view of the person and what they were doing. Fortunately his eyes were adjusted to the dark well enough to let him get a reasonable idea.

A slim figure dressed in dark clothing was kneeling over their bags. That alone wouldn’t have been totally unexpected given where they were, but he grew more concerned when he realised the target of the search was his own pack. That was where most of their more powerful equipment and materia was still being stored.

The person gasped quietly and Zack tensed, but then he realised they had only found something of interest. Suddenly his mastered materia stock was being shoved into the thief’s pouch at an astounding rate. And had that red glow been one of his summons?

It was about time he put a stop to all this.

He dived in the direction of the thief’s pouch, but was stopped short by a foot in his chest and something pointy poking between his ribs. She seemed to balk slightly once she’d had a moment to look at who was actually attacking her.

“A Soldier!?” she hissed, trying to be quiet despite her apparent shock. “No one said…”

Right, the glow in his eyes was probably obvious when it was this dark. But that still didn’t explain who she was. There was something weirdly familiar about her hairstyle and the shape of her face, though.

“Have we met?” Zack asked, squinting at her features in the dark as though that would help him remember. But she was doing the same thing, so he couldn’t feel that silly about it.

Suddenly she made a noise of surprise, and the huge shuriken moved from his ribs to his face. “Fugly Soldier guy!”

Zack flinched back a little, but it seemed she was just using her weapon to point at him, not to try and add to the collection of scars on his face. “Wait, Wutai kid… Phone scam,” Zack listed off as it occurred to him that persistent little girl would have grown up to be a teenager during his involuntary hiatus.

“The mullet is not doing you any favours, my guy,” she added, ignoring his jab in favour of delivering one of her own.

“What are you doing here?” Zack asked, absently running a self-conscious hand through his hair. Thankfully she dropped her foot from his chest. “You aren’t the rep from Wutai, are you?”

“The name is Yuffie Kisaragi!” she declared, as though that should explain everything. When it became apparent that it didn’t, she clenched her fists. “Don’t you know anything about Wutai, you Shinra freak? My father is—!”

But she didn’t get a chance to finish as she was yanked upward until she was stuck trying to balance on her toes. Her arms and legs flailed wildly, and Zack stood up to avoid getting smacked in the nose.

“It’s ok, Cloud,” Zack said hurriedly. But he did take the opportunity to snatch the pouch out of her hand. He only narrowly avoided the shuriken as her other one swiped at him. “Don’t hurt her.”

Cloud put dropped her weight, but kept hold of the back of her shirt for now. “This is our opponent?” he asked flatly.

“Yeah, so you better watch it!” Yuffie exclaimed, seemingly unperturbed until she managed to turn around far enough to look Cloud in the eye. “Another one? I thought Shinra stopped producing you.”

“They did,” Cloud replied bluntly.

“I can’t deal with this,” Yuffie muttered, seemingly to herself.

Zack looked down when something thudded against the ground between their feet. Smoke billowed up into his face and he started coughing, eyes watering. Whatever that stuff was, it was potent.

He heard a scuffle in front of him, but couldn’t see anything. In fact, he didn’t even notice the pouch was gone until the air had cleared a bit. He glanced up to see Cloud was suffering more than he was. But it was clear Yuffie had used the window of opportunity to escape.

“Is everyone ok?” Aerith asked from where she was now sitting up in bed.

“I think so,” Zack replied. Cloud just groaned. “Come on, let’s wash that away over the bathroom sink,” he added as he put a hand around Cloud’s shoulders and led him in that direction.

At least Yuffie couldn’t avoid them forever. He should have a chance to get their stuff back.

Hopefully.


	29. Chapter 29

Aerith fiddled with the edge of the white silk shawl across her shoulders while she waited for the curlers in her hair to do their work. Her surroundings were in total chaos. Apparently the Honeybee had a big show planned for after the Coliseum event, undoubtedly an attempt to take advantage of the members of the hyped up crowd who were going to place the right bet and suddenly find themselves quite a bit richer.

She glanced up when Zack came out from behind one of the curtains, once again dressed in the suit bar the jacket. A blonde Honeygirl was following him, talking animatedly while waving a pair of scissors around. Whatever she was saying, he didn’t seem too keen on it.

“What’s wrong?” Aerith asked when he came to sit down next to her.

“They want to cut my hair or something.”

“Just an inch off the back!” the Honeygirl added. “Come on, it’ll make all the difference in the world! You’ll barely notice it’s gone.”

The look Zack gave Aerith definitely belonged to a man begging for help. “Why not get it cut?” she teased instead. “At least let the front catch up with the back.”

Zack blinked at her a few times before making a sound of amusement. “Do you really hate it that much?”

Aerith tilted her head and looked away. “Well, I won’t lie to you. But it’s yours, so do what you want with it.”

“You can count on me! I do everyone’s wigs,” the bubbly woman added, bringing her hand up to her face as though making a peace sign, except it was with the open scissors instead.

“This isn’t a wig,” Zack replied, giving the scissors another nervous look.

“Really? Well don’t worry, I have time to give it an extensive wash too,” she replied as she took hold of Zack’s arm and whisked him away to one of the free vanities nearby.

Zack gave Aerith a worried look over his shoulder, but if he was really so against the idea she knew there was no way the woman would have been able to make him budge. As soon as he’d been coerced into another chair, Aerith’s attention was drawn away again.

Another person had come to sit next to her, infringing on her personal space a little. It took her an awkward couple of seconds to realise the woman was in fact Cloud.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, leaning closer to get a better look at his face. His makeup was subtle, and the front of his hair was more or less the same wild mess as usual. But his entirely black dress had been carefully chosen to disguise the width of his shoulders and the existence of his biceps.

Cloud looked away with a huff when she continued to openly stare. This only let her notice that someone had put extensions in his hair, then divided it into two plaits and pinned them to the back of his head.

“What a cute dress!” Aerith said happily as she fluffed the part of the skirt in front of her. There had to be a petticoat under there too. “How are you going to manage such a long skirt?”

Cloud’s demeanour instantly changed. “That’s kind of interesting, actually.”

He stood up and reached down to the hem of the skirt, lifting it to one side and opening a hidden panel of velcro on the belt laced with ribbon that was giving the illusion he had a waist. The skirt hem stuck to the panel, but still draped like it belonged there. Aerith could just see the lace tops of his stockings on one side, but he didn’t seem to mind. If anything, he looked pleased with himself.

“Smooth,” Aerith said with a small giggle. She couldn’t help the second glance at his legs.

Cloud unstuck everything and it all fell neatly back into place. He glanced over his shoulder then returned to sitting next to Aerith. She didn’t know who he was looking out for.

“Did you run away from someone?”

Cloud grimaced. “I had to make my escape when they started talking about eyeshadow and painting my nails. But at least I made them find flats that fit me,” he added as he looked down at his feet.

“I had to remind them I can’t run around in heels too,” Aerith confided with a laugh. Cloud gave her a small smile. “This is all so silly, isn’t it?”

Cloud shrugged. “Well, if they wanted to make me use magic instead of physical, I guess this is one way of doing it.”

Aerith knew he was only joking, but something about the statement gave her a strange feeling. Before she could dwell on it for too long, the man who had put her curlers in came back to remove them. Once he’d finished styling it, she couldn’t help but admire herself in the mirror a bit. She hadn’t known her hair could even look this shiny.

The man smiled at her reaction before hurrying off to another part of the room. She glanced in the direction Zack had been dragged away in, and saw he’d managed to escape his enthusiastic hairdresser as well.

Zack came to stand behind them, leaning over to sling an arm around each of their shoulders. “What a lucky guy I am!” he teased.

Aerith giggled as Cloud looked away with an exasperated expression. But he did seem to relax a little. She guessed having Zack’s approval had put his mind at ease a little, even if he wouldn’t admit it.

She looked back into the mirror in front of them and smiled at the sight. “Hey, we should get a picture like this,” she said as she removed her phone from the pocket hiding in the folds of her skirt. At least she hadn’t had to insist on that one practicality.

“What? Why?” Cloud demanded, turning away from them slightly.

“Aw come on, I know I’m not going to get to see you like this again!” Zack said as he pressed the side of his face into Cloud’s.

“Don’t ruin his makeup!” Aerith said with a laugh, tugging on Zack’s arm.

“What makes you so sure about that?” Cloud asked quietly.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” Zack said weakly.

Aerith laughed at the two of them and held her phone up, getting the camera ready. “Come on, it’s just for us. I won’t show it to anyone else.”

Cloud sighed but turned to face them once again. Of course he didn’t smile, but the width of Zack’s shit eating grin made up for it.

She smiled down at the photo before showing it to them for their approval. Something told her that taking it now had been a good decision.

* * *

“And, ladies and gentlemen, this has now turned into a case of diplomacy gone wrong!”

“Uh oh!”

Aerith gripped her staff nervously as she listened to the commentators deliver Andrea’s backstory in their own unique way. Somehow she doubted he’d approve of their interpretation, but it was probably too late to complain now.

Zack was still muttering to himself behind her. It seemed he thought the wolf pattern that had been embroidered onto the back of the jacket made him look like one of Corneo’s goons. Maybe it would have if it was a dragon, like theirs always seemed to be.

Aerith straightened as the doors in front of them began to open. Being cheered as they entered the ring still felt strange, but it seemed they had enough fans for it to be a regular thing now. She tried to pretend she couldn’t hear the particularly loud person telling her that her beauty was going to knock them dead.

Aerith watched their opponents enter the ring through the opposite door, as usual. Yuffie was leading a pack of men dressed in silver and grey armour. She was wearing green hakama over a blue kimono, and her short hair had been pinned out of her face so she could forego the headband.

Aerith glanced at Cloud when he sighed through his nose. “Have fun, Zack,” he said, likely referring to the fact that all of their opponents were humans he didn’t want to risk hitting. And even if she and Zack hadn’t forbidden him from casting magic, they didn’t really have enough good materia to go around anymore.

Zack sighed. “I always knew that Crescent Unit crap would come back to bite me in the ass.”

One of Crescent Unit members stepped closer to Yuffie and leaned down to say something to her quietly. She frowned and put her hands on her hips as she replied. It was impossible for Aerith to hear them over the crowd and the announcers’ continuing tale, but the fact they were arguing before the fight had even begun probably wasn’t a good thing.

“The Crescent guys want to go after me first, but she wants to get rid of you first,” Zack explained succinctly. “Her strategy makes more sense, but it seems I’ve been recognised.”

“Then, you draw them out while Cloud and I take care of the leader?” Aerith suggested.

Cloud and Zack both nodded. “That’s what I’m thinking too,” Zack replied.

The fact they had all agreed on something seemed to indicate they had the upper hand already. If this could all just stay nice and uncomplicated, they’d be able to get this over with and disappear into hiding again.

“And now our opponents have decided there is only one way to settle this one!” the announcer exclaimed dramatically. “So without further ado, let the battles begin!”

The moment the start of the fight was announced, a large shiny object hurtled straight in Aerith’s direction. She started stepping to the side just as Cloud pulled her out of its path, letting her end up behind him quite naturally.

The groups split up, with most of the Crescent Unit going after Zack, while Yuffie and two of the others took aim at what they probably perceived to be the weaker party members.

“What is this supposed to be? Support mage and offensive mage?” Yuffie asked, pulling a face at them. “Real cute.”

Yuffie came at them quickly. To Aerith she was just a blur of green and blue, but fortunately Cloud seemed to be having an easier time keeping up. He blocked her strike and pushed her back, but hesitated to do anything else.

Yuffie’s eyebrows went up, and her stance shifted slightly as she reassessed the situation. Aerith guessed she hadn’t been expecting someone fighting in a dress to also be physically strong.

But while Cloud was busy trying to fend her off, Aerith couldn’t ignore the way they were being circled by the two armoured guards. She knew she could do something about that before they ended up surrounded.

Aerith cast a moderately powerful fire spell—the best she could get out of the materia she had left—at the man who was closest to them, causing him to stagger backward and start trying to pat out the surviving flames. The other changed his mind and charged forward, striking in Aerith’s direction with his spear.

She stepped back, but Cloud had already grabbed onto the wooden pole and yanked it off centre. The man staggered, arms outstretched, but managed to keep hold of his weapon somehow. That gave Yuffie an opportunity to come at Cloud again while his hands were busy.

Fortunately he was keeping track, and raised the staff at an angle to block Yuffie’s axe kick. The wood snapped clean in half, leaving Cloud with the business end of the staff. Having no interest in using it, he stabbed the blade deep enough into the ground that it’d be a pain for anyone to try and dig out.

Aerith cast another fire spell at their disarmed opponent now that she had the chance. Yuffie gave her a wary look before putting some distance between them. Only then did she glance over her shoulder to check on the rest of her team.

All but one of them were on the ground, and Zack didn’t look like he was having any kind of trouble. Yuffie huffed to herself before renewing her attack on them.

“This is just embarrassing,” she muttered as she threw out a handful of small shuriken.

While they were occupied with dodging them, Yuffie moved quickly again. Aerith turned to see she had moved behind them to retrieve her larger shuriken, which seemed to be her main weapon ordinarily. Cloud moved in front of her again, but Yuffie seemed to be willing to tangle with him once more.

To Yuffie’s credit, she could move extremely quickly for someone who presumably didn’t have any kind of enhancements. But Aerith got the feeling that even if Cloud wasn’t actively blocking her blows, they still wouldn’t have done much to harm him.

They were both moving so quickly and sporadically that Aerith didn’t notice the large shuriken was flying in her direction again until Zack was already in front of her, blocking it with his sword. Yuffie’s eyes widened when she realised she didn’t have anyone else still standing on her side.

Cloud let her put some space between them again, but this time he stayed in an alert fighting stance. He was probably getting tired of stopping sharp things from flying in Aerith’s direction.

Yuffie stood up straight again, pointing a dramatic finger in their direction. “Ok buddy, so you fooled me with the dress etcetera. But I can see what I’m dealing with now.” She added, far more quietly, “But I didn’t think we’d get to this point quite so quickly…”

Yuffie performed an impressive set of backward handsprings, landing in a low stance. She reached an arm into her opposite sleeve, withdrawing what Aerith guessed was a summoning materia. As the glyph appeared in the air overhead she knew it was too late for any of them to try and interrupt the process.

Something told her this guardian wasn’t going to drop as easily as the others.


	30. Chapter 30

Tseng watched as the Wutai delegate’s summon finished fully materialising into the symbol and guardian of her nation, the Leviathan. The crowd around him oohed and aahed as the dragon twisted in the air over the ring. Its majesty was impossible to ignore.

The magical tide that had appeared along with it gently swept the unconscious or otherwise hurt Crescent Unit soldiers to the edge of the ring where they would be relatively safe. Kisaragi had jumped up onto the Leviathan’s head before it had taken off, and now she was trying to stand up straight on the moving surface to point dramatically down at her opponents.

“You asked for it!” she yelled, and only the arena’s acoustics made it possible to hear her over the excited conversations and whispers going on in the crowd.

All the noise and fuss made Tseng uncomfortable, but he knew this wasn’t going to last much longer. Undoubtedly Strife was going to make short work of it, even in his current… state of dress. No, it was going to be the follow-up blow that would put them to the test. And if he’d done his job properly, they wouldn’t be walking away from it.

Tseng’s eyes followed Zack as he leapt at the Leviathan with his sword raised. He squeezed the forefinger of one gloved hand with the finger and thumb of his other. He’d conducted enough interrogations in his life to recognise his own action as a sign of unease, and possibly guilt. He knew Zack would never forgive him for his involvement in trapping him and his loved ones in a lab again, but what was he to do?

Zack of all people understood the loyalty one could feel toward Shinra, the organisation that had given their lives purpose and meaning. Unlike Zack, but like many of his Turks, Tseng had never known a family or home outside of it.

Without his position, he wasn’t sure what else there was to him.

“Holy shit!” Reno exclaimed from where he was sitting next to him, hands flying upward to tug at his hair. “That blond nutjob is going to break a dragon rib if he keeps that up.”

Tseng returned his attention to the issue at hand. The Leviathan had seemingly been forced to the ground for the moment, and the three of them weren’t wasting any time pummelling it, even if the delegate was doing her level best to distract them with sharp objects.

Strife landed a particularly solid blow into its underbelly and the Leviathan finally raised its head, letting out a deafening shriek right in his face. Tseng winced slightly, unable to imagine how it had felt down there with sensitive Soldier hearing on top of everything. But it was enough to make Strife stagger back for a moment, and that was all the dragon seemed to need to rise up into the air again.

This time it spiralled up into the air, whipping up wind and water as it went. Tseng brought a hand up to his face in some attempt to protect himself from the wild conditions. Some kind of miniature typhoon began to form in the middle of the ring.

Strife immediately backed up to stand near Aerith, and she took hold of his arm to start yelling something in his ear. He gave her a confused look, and she huffed and gave her staff a twirl. A path of moisture between her and the Leviathan froze, and tiny patches of ice started forming all over its body.

Aerith’s ability to manipulate elemental states had been noted in her file, of course. But Tseng had never seen it in action before, and certainly not on this scale.

The Leviathan screeched again and whipped through the air, forcing most of the ice to crumble away. But it had become clear that no matter how high it flew, the three of them would find a way to continue avoiding its attacks and deal damage. So the tidal wave it sent out next shouldn’t have been a surprise to him.

Strife moved quickly, picking Aerith up with one arm and scaling the side of the ring, grabbing onto the top of the wall with the other. His now bare feet pressed into it too, keeping them suspended while the water swelled below.

Zack hadn’t been quite so lucky, getting battered by a column of water as he shot straight into the air. On his way back down he turned over and readied his sword. He used his own strength and gravity’s assistance to rent the dragon’s underbelly from neck to tail. He landed heavily, but let himself drop to sit on the ground when the summon began to fade away in forced dismissal.

The wind immediately dropped and the magic water evaporated. Tseng turned his attention to his phone. Chadley should be in position to activate their weapon.

_It’s time._

* * *

Cloud dropped to the ground, taking the brunt of the fall before putting Aerith down again. She jogged over to Zack, immediately casting a healing spell on him. Knowing they would be able to take care of each other, Cloud turned his attention back to Yuffie.

She looked about ready to panic. It seemed she had run out of options much earlier than she’d intended. But when she noticed he was approaching her, she put on a brave face. He couldn’t fault her persistence.

“Now is your chance to surrender!” she bluffed.

Cloud looked up at the special spectator box he knew Madam M would more than likely be occupying. She was leaning right over the railing, watching them with wide eyes that only became wider when she realised he was looking at her.

Cloud sighed. He knew what was expected of them, even if no one else was going to like it.

“All right, we surrender.” He folded his arms, but Yuffie didn’t move out of her fighting stance. “You win.”

Yuffie slowly rose into a normal stance, disbelief written all over her face. A mutter ran through the crowd, and then a protest began to swell.

“What the hell are you doing!?”

“All of you can still fight!”

But there was no time to feel bad about participating in a rigged match. The doors on Yuffie’s side of the ring were opening up once again, and he doubted it was so they could admit her.

“What is happening down there, folks?” one of the comentators asked.

“Is there another leg of this match yet to come?” the other wondered aloud.

Confused and possibly hopeful, the crowd quietened significantly. So much so that Cloud was able to hear the whirr of hardware and hydraulics coming online. Based on Yuffie’s surprised reaction, he didn’t think this was part of her plan.

Three Soldiers entered the ring, and Cloud’s suspicions began to mount. Had all of this been a setup, or had Shinra just decided to take the opportunity? It didn’t look like anyone was going to stop them, so Cloud moved closer to Aerith and Zack in preparation.

The first class was fully armoured and wearing the full collared jacket version of the uniform. His head was completely covered by a modified Soldier helmet, so he wasn’t showing an inch of skin. He wasn’t carrying an obvious weapon, and simply raised his fists once he was closer to them.

The two second classes brought their standard issue swords forward and fanned out behind the first. One of them had been in the ranks for a long time if his preference for the old style uniform was anything to go by, but based on the way he moved Cloud doubted he was Kunsel.

“Long time no see, Zack,” the man said suddenly, sounding a little nervous.

Cloud glanced back at Zack, who was now back on his feet. His eyes were narrowed. “Is that you, Luxiere?”

The man inclined his head slightly as his grip shifted on the handle of his sword. The other second looked between them while the first simply stared straight ahead.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to give you,” Zack said with little humour in his tone. He rushed forward with the sword flung out to one side, making Cloud think he wasn’t going to use it to hit him.

When he was a few metres away, the first moved so fast Cloud found it hard to track him with his eyes alone. He thought he saw a fist connect with Zack’s middle, but the next thing he knew Zack was sailing through the air. He landed heavily on his back, and when he didn’t recover or so much as move to protect himself from further blows, Cloud knew they were in trouble.

“Zack!” Aerith exclaimed, fear evident in her tone. She raced forward despite the danger, and Cloud hastened to get there ahead of her just in case. He needed to protect both of them no matter what.

The first came at him next, but this time he knew what to expect. The power behind the blow was still a shock to his system when he blocked it, but now the first was close enough for him to identify it as the source of the subtle mechanical noises. This Soldier wasn’t human, and probably never had been.

“Fuck,” Cloud heard Zack mutter from behind him. He was just glad Aerith had been able to heal him enough that he could at least talk. “What the hell was that?” He made a wincing sound, and Cloud felt Aerith’s energy rise again in preparation for another cast.

“You’re probably going to want to save that for casting lightning on this,” Cloud said evenly. Curiously, the Soldier seemed to be content watching them for the moment. Maybe it was computing its next move too.

“He’s got mechanical parts?” Aerith asked. “Or do you mean…?”

“Not sure yet, but I don’t think it matters either way,” he admitted.

But he was pretty sure Aerith was the only one of them who had brought elements other than fire along. Even without his limitations on magic use, Yuffie pinching their stuff certainly hadn’t helped them reassemble their preferred loadout. Not that they had thought it would matter in this fight earlier today.

Cloud heard Zack get back to his feet behind him, but realised they had let themselves become surrounded when the other sets of heavy footsteps continued to carefully circle around them. The first class in front of him snapped its fists back to its waist, preparing for its next lot of blows.

If Cloud was going to be occupied with this thing, then Aerith and Zack were going to have to face the two seconds alone. And that was far from ideal right now.

“If you come quietly, there’s no reason for this to turn violent,” Luxiere said, though he still sounded nervous.

“Really Aerith, you’re actually considering that offer?” Zack asked lightly, though he was unable to stop the pain from his injuries reaching his voice. “I’ve never known you to come quietly. I know Cloud can attest to that.”

Even in a situation like this? He couldn’t believe them. But he also couldn’t help smiling a little.

“Hmm, I guess it is more like this,” Aerith replied, sounding serious for a moment. But then Cloud’s surroundings lit up with lightning bolts.

One of them reached far enough to strike the first as well. It staggered back a step, but recovered just as quickly. And that was when everything devolved into chaos.

It was all Cloud could do to fend off the first’s flurry of blows, and try to land enough of his own to stop it from going after Aerith. He felt the heat of flames at his back and somehow knew the magic was Zack’s and not Aerith’s this time. He must be really feeling his injuries if he was resorting to using magic.

Cloud knew he was going to have bruises up and down his arms and legs by the end of this, and wasn’t that a concept after what had been done to him? He had to destroy this thing before it hit someone who would feel it more. But now that he was in a fight where his form mattered, he was beginning to realise just how bad it still was. Tifa would be going off at him about it if she was here.

He tried to focus in on what was happening in front of him, and that seemed to be enough to make the aura rise. Maybe this time it would be helpful to Zack instead of distracting.

More heat roared behind him and he heard something thud against the ground. “Woah,” Zack murmured in awe, and he guessed it had been one of their enemies.

Another bolt of lightning struck the first directly, making it jolt violently again. Cloud went on the offensive, guessing he would run out of energy before this thing did.

He landed solid punches in its gut and throat, but it was becoming apparent that this thing didn’t have the same weak points as a human. It swiftly stepped back to avoid his side kick, then surprised him by leaping directly over his head. Cloud turned on the spot in time to watch it deliver an axe kick aimed right for the top of Zack’s head.

Cloud started forward even though he knew he wouldn’t make it in time. But fortunately Zack managed to block it with his sword. None of them expected the entire hilt to snap clean off, though.

The heavy blade, now useless to them, slid to the ground with a solid thud. The handle dropped out of Zack’s hand and he immediately drew it close to his body, instinctively hunching over to protect it. Cloud feared something in his hand or wrist had broken from the impact, but he didn’t have time to think or worry.

“Aerith, heal him. Give me the lightning materia.”

“But,” she protested shakily. Cloud frowned. There wasn’t time to argue.

“Hojo needs you, so they won’t kill you. I don’t think the same applies to Zack.”

Aerith bit her lip, but separated the materia from her weapon so he could take it. “Be careful,” she said as she made her way over to Zack, who was still surrounded by their enemies.

Cloud immediately cast the most powerful lightning spell he could muster, directing all his power at the first. There wasn’t time for ‘careful’.

It was knocked backward before it could land another hit on Zack. Cloud saw Luxiere attempt to menace Aerith from a distance, but she simply cast a fire spell of her own at him before turning her attention to Zack. Cloud had to believe the two of them could handle him still, because the first class seemed to have calculated that getting rid of his support was the most certain way to victory.

But the two of them still needed more time. Zack was unsteady from all the times he’d been knocked down in the last ten minutes, and having just seen his most precious possession broken in front of his eyes probably wasn’t helping.

Cloud cast again and again, able to feel the sweat gathering on his brow. But as long as the powerful bolts continued slamming into the first, it couldn’t go anywhere. The same couldn’t be said for Luxiere, though.

“Just leave us alone!” Aerith exclaimed, clearly frustrated at the way he was continuing to push Zack to defend her with his injuries.

She wound up another powerful fire spell, but this time Luxiere knew what to expect. The moment Aerith released the energy, he put up reflect on both himself and the first. She realised what had happened a split second too late. She cried out as the force of her rebounded spell knocked her to the ground.

Whatever rational thought remained in Cloud’s head vanished. His arms and legs shook as he struggled to stay upright after his barrage of attacks. He couldn’t fail her.

Not again.

He pulled on the one materia Aerith and Zack had allowed him to take into battle, and poured his remaining energy into healing her. If she was up, she could keep healing Zack, and maybe…

Luxiere and the first class swapped targets in what appeared to be a well-practiced manoeuvre. The first punted Zack across the ring, while Luxiere came at Cloud with his sword raised. Turks –they had to be Turks– entered the ring and surrounded Aerith protectively. Cloud was relieved to see she was sitting up again, holding her head.

This time he expected it when he dropped like a stone before either of the Soldiers could reach him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, finally made it to the end of the Wall Market part!  
> Heads up that there is going to be quite a tone shift in the next bit of the story, as I'm sure you probably guessed already.


	31. Chapter 31

Aerith wrapped her arms around the pillow as she sat against the headboard of the bed she had shared with her mother for the first years of her life. She had hoped she would never find herself back in this room again. But it was probably better than whatever accommodation Cloud and Zack had been afforded.

They had been stuck here for days already, the routine of meals and the numbers ticking over on her phone the only indicators she had of time passing. Yesterday she’d been asked to move into the holding area they were keeping Cloud in, for a few days at least. She’d ignored the lab assistants, and had been surprised when she hadn’t been forced.

But she didn’t think she was going to get away with that forever.

It’d quickly become apparent that Cloud and Zack didn’t have their phones on them, but Aerith had finally been able to call her mum. Usually Shinra taking her was just an inconvenience, and Aerith hadn’t wanted to contradict that. What was the point of telling her mum there was potentially much more at stake this time when she couldn’t do anything to help? There was no sense in worrying her more than necessary.

And Aerith knew she wasn’t entirely alone here. When she focused on communing for lengths of time, her mother’s presence came to the fore. Words were beyond her mother’s fragmented presence at this point, but the sensation of gentle fingers at her hairline and the suggestion of encouragement were going to help her survive in this place.

It had to be enough. The others needed her to be strong too.

Aerith’s eyes flew open at the knock on the door. Not bothering to wait for a reply, the lab assistant came in to collect her dishes from the dinner she had been given. The food was plain and probably produced in bulk, but surprisingly not terrible.

“I was told that I should let you know Cloud has refused to eat anything for three days,” the blonde woman reported. Aerith guessed she’d been told specifically to refer to him by name, not his subject ID.

“Haven’t you been feeding him?” Aerith pressed.

The woman folded her arms. “Of course we have. The professor doesn’t want him to starve to death.”

Aerith hesitated. She didn’t know if they were lying, but just getting up to go have a look for herself couldn’t do any more harm than staying here. And if it was true, maybe she would be able to convince him it wasn’t the best approach.

Staying sane in this place was a marathon, not a sprint.

“Let me see,” Aerith said as she got up, putting the pillow aside neatly.

The woman nodded and led her out of the room and onto the main floor of the lab. Aerith was familiar enough with the place that the two new reinforced tubes that had been built into one side of the room immediately drew her attention. They mostly looked like what she had been held captive in for observation before, but the material had to be different. She might not be able to break out of a tube of bullet proof glass, but she was pretty sure at least Cloud could.

As far as she could see, they didn’t have doors either. It probably would have reduced their structural integrity too much to stand up to souped up Soldier blows, but she did wonder how they had been put in there in the first place.

Aerith walked ahead of the lab assistant, since it wasn’t like she didn’t know her way around the place. As she got closer it became apparent that Cloud was being kept in the tube on the right, while Zack was in the other. Both of them were wearing what looked like hospital gowns. She wondered if it was simply because their clothes had been destroyed in the fight, or if minimising their dignity was part of Hojo’s psychological game.

Since he was lying on his side right near the edge of the tube, all she could see of Cloud was his blond hair. It seemed they had at least taken the extensions out before locking him inside. Zack was sitting with his back to the room at large, leaning one shoulder against the wall of his own tube. She realised they had positioned themselves to be as close to each other as possible.

Zack was the first to turn back and look in the direction of her footsteps. She jogged over when their eyes met. He looked relieved to see her, but the dark circles around his eyes and the cast around his hand and wrist made it look like he’d been through the wringer. Had they still not healed him properly?

“Are you all right?” they asked at the same as Aerith knelt in front of him and pressed her hands against the tube.

Zack gave her half a smile, and pressed his left hand against hers. “I asked first,” he teased, voice heavily muffled by whatever the tube was made of.

“Nuh uh,” Aerith replied a little louder than she might have otherwise. She was relieved by the semblance of normalcy even if they were just putting on brave faces for each other.

Zack’s gaze shifted over her shoulder, and Aerith turned to look too. Cloud’s eyes were open now, but he quickly averted them.

“What about you?” Aerith asked. Cloud grimaced and continued looking away. “They said you haven’t been eating anything.” She could see there was a tray of untouched food behind him.

Cloud frowned and finally looked up at her. “I told them I’d eat when they feed Zack more than one meal every second day.” Hearing his usually subdued voice through the tube was more of a struggle than Zack’s clear tones.

Aerith looked back at Zack, seeking confirmation. But he just looked confused.

“We can hear what’s going on outside, but not each other,” he explained. “At least, not without shouting.”

Of course, letting his test subjects talk to each other would be too much of a luxury, wouldn’t it? She should be surprised they were even able to see each other.

Aerith stood and turned to face the lab assistant. “Well that explains it, doesn’t it? Why hasn’t Zack been fed and healed properly?”

But it was slowly dawning on her. Zack and Cloud’s closeness was obvious. If Hojo wanted to damage their relationship, then he wouldn’t treat them equally. And keeping one of them weakened at all times was probably his insurance in case they did find a way to escape. It’d probably make them a little easier to manage, anyway.

“He’s a Soldier, and he’s not exactly doing strenuous activity every day. He won’t starve that easily.”

“His body is trying to heal! Since you won’t do it for him.”

“If you want to be the one to do it, I’m sure Hojo will be willing to negotiate something,” the lab assistant replied blandly.

It was pretty obvious what Hojo wanted from her. She folded her arms and frowned.

Cloud sat up on his elbow suddenly, glancing between them. “Don’t.”

“I’ll be fine,” Zack added, probably having a fair idea of what Cloud was trying to get across. “Hojo has been playing with how effective the triggers he tried to put in Cloud’s head are.”

“So, they worked in a testing environment?” Aerith asked, trying not to let the concern show on her face. She had to remind herself that Cloud had originally been deemed a failure as far as Hojo’s intentions went. There was the possibility that things could play out differently if he was in a situation with real stakes.

And if worse came to worst, well, she had some level of ability to influence others on a subconscious level as well.

Cloud looked away, shame clear.

Aerith knew hunger strikes weren’t effective when it came to Hojo. If someone managed to go long enough to affect their usefulness as a subject of experimentation, he had no qualms with forcing the intake of something with nutritional value.

There was really only one way they could work on escaping. They had to stick together, and they all had to stay strong enough to take full advantage of any opportunity that would inevitably come along.

Aerith patted her dress down, then stood a little straighter. She took a deep breath.

“I’ll talk to him.”

* * *

Kunsel chewed the inside of his cheek as he laid out the items inside his emergency grab bag. Since he had the luxury of having time to check what he had before leaving, he was going to make full use of it.

Satisfied that he still had all the money, items, and clothes he remembered packing, he efficiently layered it all back in the bag. If he didn’t proactively make his move now, he probably wouldn’t get the chance to later.

At least, that’s what someone purportedly from Avalanche had told him through the intelligence network. They’d recommended he, and others like him, should run to a certain cell of their organisation. But Kunsel was more interested in joining Strife’s friends down in Sector 7.

They were the only ones who seemed to be interested in taking real action, even if it was on a shoestring budget.

Kunsel paused halfway through putting his helmet back on when his secure PHS flashed up an urgent notification. A moment later, his work one did the same thing. He checked the latter first, quickly skimming over the personnel announcement. But he soon slowed down, a crease forming between his brows.

_For the successful retrieval of multiple highly classified and lethal experiments, and the ongoing demonstration of an exemplary ability to work alongside new Soldier technology, Luxiere has been promoted to First Class._

As the dread gathered in his stomach, Kunsel grabbed for the other device. Whatever had been sent to him had to be related to this little lot.

He opened the photo and immediately recognised the inside of Hojo’s lab thanks to the amount of times he’d been there for his own procedures. It took his mind a moment to adjust to the perspective of the security camera, but it wasn’t hard to guess who the subjects in the two tubes were.

Kunsel looked up at the ceiling, knowing they were about twenty floors above him. But he had to be realistic about his own abilities. There was no sense in trying to break them out while he was working alone. Undoubtedly Hojo’s new toy was on guard duty.

“No way in hell is this going to take another five years,” Kunsel said under his breath, not sure if it was directed at them or himself. He had to act while he knew where they were.

He looked back at the message, but of course there was nothing to identify the sender. But maybe he’d be able to get his anonymous benefactor onside too.

He was going to need all the help he could get.


	32. Chapter 32

Zack narrowed his focus to the subtle shift of air around his nose every time he inhaled. The pain in his wrist had dulled down to something more manageable now, and he was slowly getting used to ignoring his discomfort and making the most of his chances to sleep. The almost soundproof tube was isolating, and being alone after having constant company for months was tough, but at least he knew they were both all right for the time being.

Well, as good as they could be with the reminders of dead parents everywhere and the lack of agency over their own bodies. He just wanted to tell Cloud that it wasn’t his fault Hojo insisted on conducting his deranged experiments on him. But it was hard to communicate something so nuanced when all they could do was stare at each other and try to turn field signals they both knew into some kind of limited sign language.

Zack’s eyes immediately darted toward the movement in the middle of the floor of his tube. He frowned as he watched the seamless round door open so it could soon be replaced by the platform that rose up from the floor below. That was how they delivered food to him, when they decided to feed him. And how they had taken Cloud away for experimentation one time. And where his ‘toilet bag’ went.

Naturally one of the first things he and Cloud had done after being thrown in here was break their respective platforms and drop down to the floor below. But all they had found was that the tubes extended down there as well. Although there were doors on that level, for security reasons they were locked up tight before the platform ever went anywhere.

And even if they did manage to break the doors, the robot Soldier was standing sentinel on the other side. It wasn’t like it needed to go to the bathroom or deal with boredom, so Zack figured they may as well consider it a permanent fixture.

Zack squinted with suspicion at the hole in the ground. He doubted it was mealtime.

Aerith, with a tray of food in one hand and a materia in the other, was the last thing he’d been expecting to see. Of course he was happy, and particularly glad for the opportunity to talk to and touch someone else, but he knew the price of a visit like this would have been steep.

“Why don’t you look happy to see me?” Aerith asked, tone almost joking. But she glanced away, since the answer was obvious.

“I’m not happy about what you must’ve agreed to do to get in here,” he replied, watching as she stood up and walked over to him. She waved at Cloud over his shoulder, but when Zack turned to look at him he only saw a drawn brow and a hard mouth.

“I know, but there’s no sense in letting Hojo push us until he gets what he wants anyway. If we’re stubborn he’ll just weaken us for fun then find a way to… in vitro…” Aerith trailed off as she sat and gently grasped his injured hand in both of hers. “It’s not broken?”

But Zack was still catching up with what she’d just said. “What do you mean? Why the hell is he so invested in getting you to boink if he can just make test tube babies?” Not that it was a better option for the child that’d be the result of all that, but it would be preferable for them in the short term.

Aerith made a sound of amusement at his wording, but her sombre expression soon returned. “I’m not sure, but I don’t think it’s just to torment us. Maybe he’s had trouble with the incubation stage, or maybe fully human surrogates aren’t able to provide a part Cetra foetus what it needs?”

“That’s fucked,” Zack muttered.

Aerith shrugged slightly, turning her attention back to his wound. “This could take a while to fix properly. You should eat first,” she said. “I made it, so you don’t have to worry.”

“About what? It being drugged?”

Aerith nodded. “Hojo doesn’t like using the gas too much. But I don’t think he has much choice when it comes to Cloud. Probably the less intense stuff doesn’t affect him in the same way as other people.”

As much as Zack wanted to talk to her more, he couldn’t hold off on shovelling the food into his mouth much longer. It wasn’t particularly graceful since he was using his left hand, but he managed to get most of it in his mouth. Aerith’s gaze came to rest on Cloud once again, who was now avoiding her by shoving his face into his elbow.

Cloud was probably anxious about how he could potentially react to her presence. And really, Aerith didn’t have any assurance that the worst case outcome wouldn’t happen. For all they knew, Hojo had taken him away to tinker even further with the inside of his head. Maybe she wasn’t in danger of being hurt physically, but…

When he’d more or less finished the plain meal consisting of vegetables and mashed potato, Aerith took up the materia again. The now familiar warmth of her magic flowed over him. The remaining pain faded quickly, but he knew she had a lot of work to do if she wanted to make sure the sprain wasn’t going to bother him anymore.

And what was the point of dealing with the devil if she wasn’t going to take full advantage of the opportunity she’d managed to negotiate?

“I think they put a cast around it mostly to make sure I wouldn’t try to hurt myself more,” Zack said quietly as he watched her work. His other hand reached forward to press some of her hair behind her ear. “There’s a compression bandage under there.”

“I guessed as much,” Aerith replied quietly. “You should leave it in place for another day or so just to stop you from making a movement that could cause damage again,” she added as she dropped their hands into her lap. He felt her power withdraw, and was grateful when the pain didn’t return.

“Aerith, if they’re allowing you enough freedom to go down to the kitchens then you should just run away,” he said seriously, taking the chance before she ended up on the other side of the glass once again.

She shook her head. “They’re holding all the cards, Zack. If I run, they’ll kill you. Or hurt my mum. Maybe both.” Her hands tightened slightly, but not enough to undo any of the good she had just done. “Not like I could abandon either of you anyway.”

Zack sighed, but he could tell she had already made her mind up. It felt selfish, but he was glad to be able to avoid the chopping block for now as well. “Being the damsel in distress is the worst,” he muttered.

Aerith looked up at him with a small smile. “Welcome to my life,” she said lightly. “But, I know how to be strong here. So let me.”

“All right, but if we’re going to be opposites for a bit, you have to promise me you won’t do anything reckless. I mean, what you’ve agreed to already feels very reckless, but…”

“I’ll be fine. You just do whatever it takes to keep yourself mentally and physically strong. They will screw something up eventually and give us a chance to escape. That’s when I’ll need you to act.”

“All right, deal,” Zack replied, reaching out to squeeze her upper arms. He had been trained to deal with being a prisoner of war, even if he’d never had to use it before.

Aerith leaned in to kiss him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing closer. He placed his hands on her waist and pulled her in.

Letting go was difficult. But she had specifically asked him to let her do what she needed to.

So he did.

* * *

Aerith sighed shakily as she put the tray of food down in the lab assistants’ kitchenette. She quickly returned to the lower floor, still wary every time she passed the robot Soldier. He never so much as acknowledged her existence, but maybe that’s what made things so unsettling.

She stepped inside the door on Cloud’s side and closed it behind her. She knew the elevator thing wouldn’t work unless the exit was locked down. She knelt on the circular platform and looked back at the Soldier. He inclined his head slightly and the platform began to rise.

Cloud was still sitting on the other side of the tube, as far from her and as close to Zack as he could get, it seemed. While she was glad he wanted to avoid potentially putting her in danger, there was no sense in trying to wait things out. She was sure it would just end up being self-destructive procrastination.

“Cloud,” she said as she approached him. His shoulders tensed, but he didn’t look back at her. “Do you feel any different yet?”

This time he did glance back, though not directly at her. “No.”

Aerith looked up at the ceiling, wondering where the recording devices were hiding. “Don’t try to pretend you aren’t listening to this, Hojo,” she said, braver than she felt.

“I wasn’t aware you were so eager,” he mocked her over the crackling loudspeaker.

Aerith clenched her fists, but avoided reacting otherwise. If he knew he was bothering her, he would only keep going.

Hojo’s sigh came through the speaker in the form of a horrible crackling mess. “Very well. Subject five-oh-two-S, mate with the Ancient.”

Aerith paused in her approach, watching Cloud carefully. At first it seemed like he hadn’t responded at all, but after a moment he turned away from her again, drawing his legs together and bringing his hands up to cover his face.

Aerith dared to exhale with tentative relief. Forcing his body to prepare him for intercourse, while still invasive and awful, was a very different situation from forcing him to take certain actions.

Hojo must have noticed a change in her demeanour. “Give it time,” he said smugly, followed by the characteristic click of the PA turning off.

To her, that just confirmed she should do the opposite. “Cloud,” she said as she resumed her approach.

“Stay away!” he replied harshly.

Aerith came to a halt behind him. He was obviously distressed, but doing what Hojo wanted would just be playing into his hands.

“Cloud, I don’t want to make you more uncomfortable than you already are, but do you really think that’s the best way of dealing with this?”

He glanced up at her, face red and eyes confused. “What are you doing?” he muttered.

Aerith knelt down behind him and hesitantly put a hand on his back. “From the sounds of it, this feeling he’s triggered in you is just going to stir higher and higher until you can’t think clearly anymore. So, wouldn’t it be better for both of us if we just head it off now?”

The meaning behind her words seemed to sink in slowly. His hands lowered slightly, but the flush across his face only became more intense. “What are you trying to say?” he asked weakly.

“I can just use my hand,” she tried to explain more bluntly. “Just… pretend it’s Zack, if you want.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Cloud asked haltingly.

“It’s better than the other possible alternatives, isn’t it?” Aerith replied, but Cloud continued to regard her seriously. “Honestly, I don’t mind. Since it’s you.” As long as he was comfortable enough with the idea, of course.

Her response silenced him for some time. His eventual nod told her all she needed to know.


End file.
